The freak of freaks
by Ampire8
Summary: It all started when I had a favourite set of books, the Darren Shan saga 'Cirque Du Freak', I knew them word by word. I wished that I was a freak and that I could join the adventure. My imagination was put to rest once I met Desmond Tiny. (I do not own any cdf characters, only the ones I made, constructive criticism welcome, my first ever fanfic,).
1. Chapter 1

I was in my room at night looking at the clear night sky, I loved the night. I was watching my dog sleep and his steady breathing, _in and out in and out,_ because let's face it, I'm an animal lover. All was quiet and then I heard a voice "The night is beautiful, is it not?" I spun around a look of terror on my face and saw a pudgy man, Destiny.

"Who are you," I was such an idiot for not knowing who he was, then it struck me, my daydreams, their coming true! But I can't tell him I know about him he'd kill me on the spot! I have to think of a lie "Destiny..." I mumbled, now he looked confused. "How did you know?" he asked. "I saw you in one of my dreams," He studied me for a moment deciding whether I was lying or not. After a moment he spoke "What else did you see?" _oh man, what should I say? _"I saw two boys fighting, I saw that one was in the light and one was in the dark, the one in the light had dark, almost black, hair," nailed it!

He thought silently to himself, "Would you like to join him?" _WHAT,_ I screamed inside my head, "what about my family?" I asked "And my dog," he rolled his eyes and said "Grab your stuff I can erase your families memory and anyone else who knows you..."He glanced at the dog"As for the mutt, I guess he can come with you," I muttered one word that would change my life forever "Yes."

He sat on my bed and I started packing up my stuff. I grabbed my sketch book which had loads of drawings from the book in; I grabbed a picture of my family and about £200 pounds because I guess I would need it. I grabbed the dog lead and some spare dog food. I picked up some jumpers and leggings because that is basically all I wear.

"I'm ready to go," I sighed and with that we were outside and he clutched a heart shaped watch and he glowed a horrible red colour all over. "It is done, no going back, now you go to the cirque," He said not even looking at me "Keep going that way," I nodded and started to walk, then I remembered something. "WAIT! " I called after him, "yes" He said turning around. "It's freezing out, it's the middle of winter, "I mean I liked the cold but this was ridiculous. He just looked at me and chuckled "now you won't feel it, no parasites can feed off you or they will go numb and fall ill," _Parasites? _I thought "I can also tell you love animals" He continued "Now all animals will love you," _What? "_Oh and you might want these" he chucked me a pair of gloves, an evil look in his eyes. "Ok, thank you? But what do I need the gloves for?" He sighed and laughed evilly "All will become clear in good time, farewell my little freak..." _Freak!? "_Ok bye,"

I looked one last time at my house and I walked away, not looking back


	2. Chapter 2

I've been travelling for a few weeks and the dog, which was called Marley, was doing fine. The dog food I grabbed was gone in a few days so I used a few ponds to buy some more. I also found out why Desmond had given me the gloves. It had been snowing yet I didn't feel the cold and when someone had come to help me up because I was living on the street I tried to wave them away but ended up making ice stakes on the ground, I had ice powers. I put on the gloves and they helped. But I was scared that I could hurt someone. After A few days I had realised a change in my appearance, I now had snow white hair but it used to be brown and Ice blue eyes, which went white when I was angry or sad, that also used to be brown.

After I didn't think I could be alone anymore I came across an old abandoned theatre and went inside for shelter but instead I found an incredibly tall man who I knew as Hibernius Tall, I only knew this because of the books I had read. He invited me to see his 'show' and I agreed.

The show was all kind of amazing but I loved the snake-boy's act because I love animals and it was fascinating, the snake boy was called Evra and he was covered in scales, green, yellow hair and had eyes matching those of a snakes, he had a pet snake as well. After the show had ended I went back stage and found Mr. Tall, I asked him "Can I come with you?" He replied with no emotion "No, we do not allow children." That was the point where I broke, I screamed at the top of my lungs "But I have no family, nowhere to go, no shelter, and no food! Please let me come," I was on the verge of tears when it started snowing backstage, inside!"He looked up and saw snow, he looked back down at me and said "Do you know why it's snowing?" I nodded my head and looked at the ground sheepishly "I'm sorry, I got angry, I can't control it," I mumbled as a tear slid down my face and hit the floor. He put his hand under my chin, lifted my head up and said "You may join." He smiled at me but it wasn't very comforting because his mouth was filled with yellow and brown teeth. We walked out of the theatre but when we were near the exit I stopped and said to him "You won't tell anyone about my 'talent' will you?" he smiled and replied "You way tell who you want but your secret is safe with me,"

I turned and faced Marley "You hear that boy, we have a home." He whimpered and cuddled up to me and we went to go meet my new family.

We came to a big open field and there were row upon row of tents. Mr. Tall, I and Marley walked in and everyone abruptly stopped what they were doing and looked at me. Marley hid behind my legs, he didn't like being around a lot of people.

I looked down and kept walking; my 'talent' had made me VERY shy. I had learnt it was best to lie down. We came to a big open fire and Mr. Tall said to everybody there "Hello everybody, this is Victoria, she is new and has a very beautiful but dangerous talent and she will not be showing it to anyone she doesn't trust," He paused and turned to the snake-boy "Evra, Victoria will be joining you with chores in the afternoon, she will sleep in the morning and help hand out posters with Mr. Crepsley at night," Evra nodded and held out his hand to shake mine but my eyes were glued to the sausage in his hand. I was so hungry; I've been living off of spare food out of garbage bins for the past few weeks. He obviously realised I was hungry and grabbed a sausage off the fire stabbed it with a stick and handed it to me "Be careful its h..." Before he could finish what he was going to say I had shoved the sausage in my mouth, "hot, hot, hot, hot...HOT!" I screamed fanning my mouth, I gulped down the sausage and grabbed some else's water! I drank the whole glass but my mouth still felt like it was on fire. I panted and panted like my dog, ignoring everyone else's laughing! After my mouth had cooled down I laughed to.

After we had our laughing fit Evra said "So you have a dog with you?" Oh yeah! I guessed Marley was hungry as well. I asked for another sausage, waited for it to cool down a little and put it on the floor where Marley devoured it thankfully. I said to Evra "I wonder where I'm going to sleep tonight?" He replied "Go see Mr. Tall," I nodded and left with Marley in my arms.


	3. Chapter 3

I walked around for a bit then realised that I didn't know where to go, so I pulled someone over to the side and asked where to go, they gave me directions that I followed. I got to Mr. Tall's trailer and knocked on the door. The door swung open almost immediately but I saw Desmond Tiny instead. He gestured towards the inside of the trailer and said "Come in," I obeyed because, I'm not going to lie to you, I was terrified of him.

Once inside I saw that the trailer had a wooden floor, but the only furniture in there was a chair and desk. Desmond Tiny sat down in the chair and spoke "Hibernius, will you please leave us for a moment?" He glanced at Mr. Tall who nodded and walked out the trailer. "I see you have found your powers?" He looked at me "Yes," He smiled that wicked smile of his and said coldly "Is there any other abilities that you would like?" _Is this a trick or something_ I thought. "There is one thing I would like," He looked at me and grinned "And what is that?" I paused and stuttered "To be able to send messages with my mind?" He smiled and said "Yes when you wake up tomorrow you will have that ability," I nodded and walked out to go find Mr. Tall, but he stopped me and said "But..." I turned around and said "But what?" He chuckled and said "something else about your appearance will change tomorrow "What will change?" He looked at me and said "Your body will be covered in blue swirl tattoos," I thought about that for a moment and said as I opened the door "That's fine,"

I was walking around camp trying to find Mr. Tall when I bumped into Evra again, he waved at me and said "Victoria, I fou..." I stopped him right there and said "call me vix, I really hate Victoria." He smiled and carried on "Okay, _Vix_, I found where you are sleeping." So I questioned him "Where?" he grinned "In my tent!" I smiled and said "Do you mind the cold?"

We walked to the tent and I found that he had already grabbed a hammock and blankets and pillows, he had even grabbed a dog bed! When we got into the tent he gave me the stuff he was carrying and said that I could set up everything how I wanted. I strung up the hammock in the corner and put the dog bed underneath; I put my duffel bag of stuff in the corner and grabbed my pillows and blanket. I sat on the hammock and led down but as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light.


	4. Chapter 4

I had been at the cirque for a few weeks now and no matter how many people had asked me to show them my 'talent' I never did. One day I even found a few of the cooks talking about me, saying that I was a phoney and that I was lying, my eyes turned white and I slipped off one of my gloves and some ice appeared under the cooks, they slipped and the juice they were carrying spilt all over them, that I happily laughed at. I kept to wearing jumpers and leggings to hide my tattoos; the only person who has seen them is Evra. Evra was over curious one night and belted out a load of questions at once "Why do you wear gloves, why do your eyes change colours, why is it always cold around you even in the sun and why on earth do you have tattoos all over your body?!" I had to think about it before I answered but I just couldn't be bothered "Come with me," We walked outside where it was cold and the full moon shone everywhere. I sat down on the grass and said to him "Destiny and I had a nice chat," before he had a chance to say anything I had taken off my gloves and a spirals of snowflakes came from my hand. I moved my hand and made a snowball out of nothing, I threw it in the air and it exploded and with that a flurry of snowflakes fell from the sky. He said nothing and just stared for a while at me and the moonlit snow. He whispered "that's amazing..."with a big sloppy grin all over his face.

He went to bed while I waited outside in the snow, waiting for Mr. Crepsley to meet me where he always did. After about 10 minutes of waiting the orange haired vampire finally came outside, he looked around and said to me "Victoria," he still uses the full name I hate "do you know why it is snowing?" I shook my head and mumbled "No..." He studied me and said "You are lying..." I looked at him, curled up into the snow and moaned "How did you know," He replied "because I know when you are lying, Victoria, now answer me," I groaned and said "You will find out in due time..." With that he nodded and said "Fine, shall we split up tonight or will we go together?" I thought about it for a moment and replied "we should split up, cover more ground." He nodded and left, me following close behind.

When we got to the city that we had been camping near we did what we did every night, we split up and handed out posters to the show and I normally went to a few shops that were open all night. Mr. Crepsley always insists that I bring a knife just in case; he says it's because there are _always _dangerous people out there. Despite all of his warnings the night went smoothly, like always, except for the fact that I made it snow and made the ground freeze

When we got back I was too tired to eat so I stumbled right back to my tent and tried to go to sleep but for some reason I couldn't, it felt like someone was watching me...weird right...? I had just started to doze off when there was a knock at the door, I groaned and sat up my eyes a little groggy "Whaaaaat..." the person on the other side cleared their throat "Mr...Um...Tiny wants to see you.." He walked away, my eyes shot open all traces of sleepiness gone, I jumped out my hammock falling over the dog in the process, I ran over the trailer grabbing my jumper and ran to the other side of cam(to Mr. Tall's trailer) while I was pulling my jumper to hide my markings. I was so scared that it started snowing..._oops?!_

When I got the trailer I didn't even have to knock because the door swung open and there once again I saw Mr. Tiny, but this time I saw Evra as well.

I walked inside looking around, there was the same chair and the same desk, except this time there was a sofa at the wall of the trailer which Evra was sat on, fidgeting uncomfortably. Then Desmond Tiny broke the silence by speaking in that unforgettable voice of his "Hello my _freaks"_ he emphasised the word freak_, I hate that, I get so annoyed sometimes, it's just the way that his evil little..._"Why so much hate Victoria," How did he know I what I was thinking, I decided to stop thinking about that and instead I asked a question "Mr. Tiny, why did you call us here?" He looked right at me and did his _haven't you guessed yet_ face, me and Evra both shook our heads so he sighed and carried on "Evra you may go, I have had my talk with you, Victoria, you will stay." We nodded and Evra walked out, while I walked over the trailer and sat on the sofa. "Victoria, "I looked at him and bowed my head a little "Yes,"

"I have noticed that you are not enjoying your freakish ability so I am willing to change it for something else?"I furrowed my eyebrows and cocked my head to the side "What do you mean change it?" I asked, he replied "I will exchange it for another ability of your choice but it will come at a physical cost, you have very good eyesight do you not," _please don't say what I think you're going to say..."_I guess so, yes?"He smiled like he was going to enjoy and his heart shaped pocket watch glowed a sickly red, he growled "Can I take some of it?" WHAT! I had a decision to make, lose some of my eyesight and receive an ability that I may like and not fear, but on the other hand I could keep my eyesight and get an ability that I may like and not be afraid that I may hurt someone? I am going to get a new ability...

"I would like a new talent," I muttered, his smile grew wider and his watch glowed brighter I felt a twist in the pit of my stomach. "It is done but there will be side affects..."I asked "Like what?" He smirked and said "Let's see, a fiery temper, a little bit of pain, and you will live slightly longer," I nodded and said "I'm fine with that."...


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as I got back to my tent I opened the door where I found Evra twiddling his thumbs. I found the silence uncomfortable so I said "Hi Evra..." He only now noticed that I had come back and after all that noise coming in! "Um...Vix?" I raised an eyebrow "Yes Evra?" Evra tried to look me in the eye but he couldn't "Mr. Tiny said that your new ability could hurt you or others and I don't want anybody to get hurt," I slumped down on the sofa next to him taking my jumper off. "Don't worry about it, I'll be careful," He smiled at me and relaxed "Ok, but I need you to know that I will always look out for you." I hugged him and smiled at him, he was like a brother to me, and I climbed into my hammock making sure that Marley was fine.

That night I had a horrid nightmare, first I had been set on fire and I was burning so I jumped into the sea and started drowning, there was an earthquake and a tornado in the background and then everything went black, I heard the screams of everyone I knew and in the distance I saw Desmond Tiny clutching not his heart shaped watch but a real heart... "Victoria...VIX! WAKE UP!" I sat bolt upright panting and sweating, Marley was whining and then there was Evra with a worried look on his face..."I'm fine, I'm fine, go back to sleep," I whispered putting a shaky smile on my face. He started to turn around but as soon as he did I screamed out in pain, there was a scorching hot pain all over my body and my hair had caught fire! "I'm going to get help," I managed to catch Evra say before he sped out the door like there was no tomorrow, I screamed out one more time before I slipped into sweet unconsciousness.

My eyelids fluttered open, I saw white all around and people crowded around me chatting and talking all with a worried expression on their face, "Everyone, she's awake, give her some space!" I heard, I think it was, Evra announce. At that moment everyone stopped murmuring and stood stone still watching me, I sat up and tears welled up in my eyes "Evra," I managed to croak. He rushed forward and came to the edge of the bed I was led on. "Are you alright Vix?"I smiled gratefully at him "Yes, I'm fine Evra, thank you," He laughed and said to me "Jeez, you really scared me there..." I smiled and grabbed for a glass of water but I didn't even have the strength to do that, so I just sat there, said thank you to everyone for their concern or for their help and went to sleep.

When I woke up feeling had come back so I sat up and a pain shot from my eye right through my scull. I put my hand up to my face and touched my left eye...there was a giant white patch covering it..._oh no_ I thought and I started crying, there were only a few people in the medical trailer (I found out later), those who were working on others, Evra with me but there was one person in the person that nobody except me could see and he was clutching a heart shaped watch, grinning and chuckling maniacally.

When I stopped crying I asked Evra "What happened to my eye?" He looked at me apologetically and whispered "I left the trailer to get help and when I came back you were passed out on the floor with a deep cut going from your eyebrow down _through_ your eye to your cheek," I frowned and started sobbing all too aware of Destiny watching us. "I asked Evra if anything had changed and he replied "maybe you should look in a mirror." _What? _"He took me over to a mirror where I looked at myself; I was dressing in loose clothing, some baggy trousers and a jumper about 10 sizes too big for me. But the markings covering my whole body were visible and _very_ sore and this time they weren't blue but a mixture of blues,  
>yellows, reds and greens. I looked at my eyes, one was covered in a white patch stained with blood and the other wasn't blue anymore, it was back to its original brown colour but this time with streaks of reds, greens, yellows and blues. I looked at my hair...oh wow...It was now shoulder length whereas it used to be just below my ribcage and it was black with a red streak going down the middle, a yellow streak in my fringe, a green streak on the opposite side of my head and a blue streak at the back... I looked at Evra "h...h...how?" I stuttered looking at myself.<p>

He explained to me that my hair was singed at the ends with fire so they cut it and poured water on it, when it dried it was like this, he said that my markings swirled around and then changed all the colours of the rainbow and then settled into four colours same with my eyes. I asked him what had been going on in camp; he said "We got a new addition!" I smiled because I love new members and curiously asked "Really, who?!" Evra smiled back and said "A half-vampire...Darren Shan, he'll be in our tent and be doing tours with us." My breath hitched and I whispered "Wow, the Darren Shan,"


	6. Chapter 6

When they said I was well enough I went out of the medical trailer to have some breakfast, I smelt the sausages as soon as I got out the door, I walked towards the smell and got greeted by a fire surrounded with my friends, these friends were mainly Evra, Gertha, Hans and Truska, Evra had taught me to speak her language. There was also Darren who I hoped I would become friends with and those two cooks who never stopped talking about me, and not in the good way. I hated them A LOT... my hatred flared up once again when I walked in shyly (I wasn't sure what people were going to say about my eye), and one of them stood up, looked at me snobbishly and said "So patchy," _Oh man "_What happened," he said in a mocking tone, like he cared! Then the girl cook stood up and said "I bet she did it herself just to get attention, Mr. Tall says that she has a special gift but I don't think she has one at all," Normally I am _able_ to sit down and ignore it but this time I just couldn't. My hands bunched up into fists and I exploded with rage, Evra looked at me confused and Darren just looked worried, what would you think if a random girl walked into a camp where you knew no one with a dripping red patch over her eye, strange marking, multi coloured hair, got accused and got angry! I carried on ranting "How dare you say that, maybe I'm dangerous, maybe I wanted to keep it a secret and maybe just maybe I fear for the people I'm going to hurt...like you in a moment!" While I was shouting the fire had grown bigger, the dust on the ground was getting pulled towards me, water had flown out of peoples water glasses and the wind was whipping with full force, the cooks looked terrified and in unison they shouted "We're sorry, we didn't mean it, don't hurt us."

I sat down next to Evra, who had a look of awe, fear and confusion on his face and Darren who just kept staring, what I can't believed was I blushed! Evra questioned me "How did you do that, I thought you had something to do with frost and snow?"I smiled at him "Destiny changed that, but also gave me this, "I said pointing to my blood stained patched up eye. Darren chose this moment to stick out his hand and say "I'm Darren, what's your name?" I shook his hand and said through a mouthful of cereal "Victoria, but please call me Vix." He nodded and smiled and said "Oh, your Vix, Evra's been talking about you, I'm going to share a tent with you guys and help with your chores." I nodded and said "Yeah, I guess you're stuck with us for now," we all started laughing but I didn't know what was so funny. I only think we were laughing to ease the people around us who were use to me being quiet and calm and just saw me, no pun intended, freak out.

After I had finished shovelling food into my mouth Evra and I had to show Darren around the camp, Mr. Tall gave us the _whole _day off to do this, SCORE! While we walked around I asked Evra how long I had been in the medical trailer for and he said _two weeks!_ He said I even missed Cormac leaving but I found out he would be back later that day, Cormac was like a dad to me. I got a lot of welcome backs because I never really realised but I had talked to a lot of people and I was quite popular with the cirque. Darren asked me how long I had been here and he was surprised that I had only been there a little longer than him.

We finished the tour earlier than usual so we to our tent after we had our dinner and we chatted about stuff and Evra finally asked the question I knew he had been holding in the whole time "So, how did you do that at breakfast and how?" I cleared my throat, looked him in the eyes and said "Destiny and I made a deal, he would give me a new ability because he thought that I didn't like my old one," Evra looked so confused and said "But Destiny isn't nice or even slightly nice?" I looked at him with one of my best _let me carry on please_ looks "So I said yes but it would come with a fiery temper and a longer life, whatever that means oh and pain," I pointed at my eye," I had just remembered that Darren didn't know Destiny but oh well, I'll tell him later. "Ok, that explains it, anyway off of that sad note, let's go for a walk," We went out and I can honestly say I loved it.

We were in the field when Evra said "Vix?" I looked over at him "Yeah Evra," He looked back up at the sky and frowned "When you got angry earlier, your eye...it went red." I looked up at the sky with him "Well my eyes changed colours of blue when I experienced different emotions so maybe the same thing is happening?" Evra shrugged "I guess so, I mean your eyes turned blue when you were laughing earlier so yeah..." I nodded and sat up, Evra noticed I was edgy and asked "what's wrong?" I stood up and said "Look, "I pointed in the direction of the hill where there were little blue robed people. Evra froze; Darren looked really confused now and asked "Who are they?" Evra and I both said "You'll find out." Darren frowned as we started walking back to camp.

We got back to camp and snuck to our tent, nobody was out, and those who were, were all too scared of Mr. Tiny. We got inside the tent and waited for Mr. Tiny to leave but it was just our luck that we got told to go see Mr. Tiny..._great!_

Evra, Darren and I went into the trailer where we found Mr. Crepsley, Mr. Tall and Mr. Tiny waiting for us. Mr. Tiny spoke as we entered "Hello, freaks," My eyes went red "Ah, Victoria I see you've had a taste of your powers?"I nodded sheepishly "Yes sir, but if I can ask what is my new ability?" Mr. Tiny said "Well, your eyes will change colour for your mood and you can control the elements," I gasped "what about my old powers?" He replied "The ice is gone, the parasite rule still remains," Mr. Crepsley bristled at this."And all animals will love, understand and obey you still." I nodded and kept quiet.

Mr. Tiny clapped and rubbed his hands together "Well then, you three," He gestured to us and we all nodded "I have just brought in a new load of little people and they are, I'm sure, good on their own but I still need you three to bring them food and show them the ropes?" We looked at each other and said in unison "Yes," But I'm sure none of us wanted to do it.

We made our way back to our tent where the boys asked me to try out my new talent. I told them "Ok, we'll try it, the four elements are...water, air, fire and earth, so Darren you bring me a candle on fire and Evra bring me a glass of water and one of Truska's un-bloomed flowers please," The boys nodded and ran out the tent. Darren came back five minutes later with a lit candle and put it on the floor. We chatted for a few minutes before Evra came in and put the water and flower pot on the floor.

I told Evra and Darren to go to the side because I didn't know what was going to happen, especially when it came to using the fire. I started with the fire because it was the most dangerous. They stepped to the side and watched. I stood up and closed my eyes, willing the fire to snake around my arms but not burn them, I heard gasps, I opened my eyes and the fire was coiling around my arm like a snake. I told the fire what I wanted it to do and it did it, the coils of fire slithered down my arms to my palm where they turned into two balls of fire.

Next I tried the water. I told the water to come out of the cup but it did not so instead I asked it to and it came. I made shaped out of the water and made it rain inside the trailer, then I realised that everything was wet so I pulled all the water up and out of everything, I pulled it into a big glob of water and chased Darren and Evra with it, they screamed like little girls. So I shut Darren up by dropping the globe on him, Evra and I laughed so I hard tears were streaming out and running down our cheeks.

Next came Earth, I told the bud to bloom, it didn't work, I asked the bud to bloom, it didn't work. I finally came up with the solution, flowers were soft so I talked to it calmly and nicely, it worked. The bud bloomed and it was the most beautiful flower I had ever seen, pink with purple and lilac, the petals were soft and rich with life. I next tried the soil it was in, I thought to it calmly and nicely and it did what I wanted it to do, It Flew up out of the pot and I had a play around with it.

Next was air, this time all I had to do was imagine what I wanted to happen and it worked, it was very windy inside the trailer but not outside, the people outside must of wondered what was going on!

Once we had finished playing around we all slumped down onto the sofa. "It's a very nice talent but can you use it on the offensive, can you really use it to fight?"I looked over at him and shrugged, "I don't know, but I'll try," A huge smirk formed on my lips "But you're the test dummy!" A look shock played across his face as he was pulled to the middle of the trailer. "Let's try Earth first!" I said exited and before Darren could protest I had already made the soil form into the shape of a dagger and I sent my thoughts calmly to the soft dagger _"Please harden, please harden, please har..."_ then the most amazing thing happened, the dagger turned into solid rock and in my hand I held a smooth but sharp dagger! "Wow..." Evra muttered.

Next was water, I did the same thing I did with Earth except this time I tried a sword, I made the water go into the shape of a sword and asked it to turn to ice and it worked! Evra did point out the fact that ice would be quite weak and shatter easily.

Air was going to be fun, I stood still and did a sort of karate chop in the air towards Darren and a load of air blew at him and floored him! _HAH! _I did a sort of victory dance and then Darren said with a smirk "Alright you ele_MENTAL!" _

Now it was time for fire, this can only go badly I thought to myself. I told the fire to make a long line; since fire couldn't harden I decided to use a flexible weapon, a whip! I pulled the fire off of the wick of the candle and held a makeshift fire whip in my hand. But I wasn't going to use this one on Darren!


	7. Chapter 7

The next day was a bad one; it was time to take off the patch that covered my eye. Evra and Darren gave me reassuring hugs. Evra said "do you want us to wait outside or come in?"I pondered on it for a moment then said glumly "Can you come in with me please," They both gave sympathetic smiles, Darren said "Sure, let's go." I pushed open the door to the medical trailer.

"Over there," We got directed by a lady dressing in a white suit. We walked through a curtain and there was already a lady dressing in the same white uniform as the woman we saw before. She told me to sit down on the bed. Evra and Darren shat down on the two chairs in the corner, they looked more nervous than me!

When the time came to take off my patch my stomach was churning and I was sweating. The nurse came over and started to take off the patch. Darren and Evra had been told to wait behind a curtain but all they heard was "WHY CANT I SEE THROUGH IT! WHY CANT I SEE THROUGH IT!"

I got over my freak out once Evra and Darren came in. I had a look in the mirror and what I saw made me sob, in my un-injured eye, a dark brown with small specks and streaks of green, blue, yellow and red. But the injured eye was white with a cloudy grey pupil, there was a freshly scared dark pink line going from just above my eyebrow, through my eyebrow and when it got to my eye there was a very dark grey split going all the way down my eye, going through my pupil. When it got off my eye it ran until just about halfway on my cheek.

That experience was a depressing one and one I will always remember, so Evra and Darren took me on a walk out in to the field. We were walking around when Darren suddenly had to sit down, he said he was just feeling ill but I knew that it was because he was not drinking any human blood. But I knew he would get his drink soon because of the books I read (Remember?).

We were lying down looking at the stars when Darren sat up suddenly "Did you hear that?"He hissed, "No, what was it?" I asked, "Look there's a little kid," He pointed to where I can't see "Evra?" I asked "Yeah," He said "I CANT SEE OVER THERE!" I growled and punched his arm, he yelped and whimpered "Sorry, Sorry," I had to turn my head to see what Darren was talking about what I saw made me groan, I remembered this kid from the books, it was Sam Grest, the wolf mans meal! Darren then whispered to us "It's a little kid; we should scare him, make noises and shake branches all around him and Vix?"he looked at me"Yeah?" I said "Make the wind whip around the branches," This I smiled at, we all nodded, that's when our plan was put into action.

Darren stood up and aid to Evra and I making sure Sam heard "Bye Evra, Bye Vix," He waved and then left, we waited a few minutes and then Evra stood up and said "Well, bye Vix, see you later," I smiled and waved "Bye Evra," I then waited until I heard rustling and screaming, I moved to a nearby tree and climbed up to almost the top branch where I stopped and then I made the wind whistle and howl all around the branches, I also made the Earth shake a little bit, I giggled a little, Sam looked up Oh no! I bet he saw me! I hid behind the branches and then I realised I was only half hidden because of my eye, he looked up and saw a white scared eye between the leaves, he screamed and fainted, _OOPS! _

I climbed down the tree and sat next to Sam, I said still looking at Sam "He's breathing, he'll be fine," Evra looked annoyed at this and said "Well, we should at least wait until he wakes up?" I nodded and sat down.

When Sam came to he looked at us and started to whimper and squirm, I put my hand on the ground, vines burst out the dirt and wrapped themselves around Sam's wrists and ankles, I really needed him to stop freaking out! All of a sudden he stopped squirming, cocked his head to the side and said curiously "You're from the circus aren't you?" We smiled and nodded "Yes, we are part of the cirque du freak," I giggled, his face lit up and he said "A freak show, cool!" We smiled even more, Darren said do you want to come to our tent and see Evra's snake?" He asked gesturing to Evra. "Yeah! What are your names I'm...?" I stopped him right there, I might as well have some fun! "Hang on, I know," I looked him in the eye and completely froze to give effect. After a while I said "Your Sam Grest, you live near here and you are a very curious person, aren't you?" His face went white with astonishment; I caught a glimpse of Evra and Darren Gasping. "Y...y...yeah..." He stuttered. "How did you know," Darren asked the question on all their minds. I shook my head and giggled.

We chatted for a while before we headed back towards camp, Sam was interested in everything apart from the wolf man, he was terrified of him, and he should be! I made myself a promise, I wouldn't get close to Sam otherwise it would be hard to lose him to the wolf man, I was going to tell Darren but that was not his destiny, it was either Sam and I died or just Sam, that was a horrible decision to make but I made it.

It was good over the next few days, Darren and Evra did their chores with me through the day and I didn't have to go out with Mr. Crepsley at night anymore unless I wanted to, Mr. Tall said I should practice my talent instead. Then Darren and Evra would go to see Sam and I would stay and practice in the tent but most the time Sam helped out with the chores trying to impress others, I still didn't even try to meet him, I just avoided him. I had now, I know it sounds weird, become friends with the elements. I could control them easier now and had learnt a lot, I could now make fire out of nothing and I had learnt how to get water out of things like the grass and a little out of the air, I had learnt to make whatever I wanted grow out the ground easily but I had to make contact with the ground to do that. I had learnt to deal with the loss of half my sight but whenever anyone mentioned destiny my hand would shoot straight to my eye and they would look at me funny. I never learnt how to control my temper though. Not a lot of people knew, Darren, Evra and Sam knew, Truska knew because she was like a mum to me and I really wanted to show Cormac! They only knew about my new talent but not about my meeting with destiny.

After a few days Cormac arrived which was great, he was like my father, he, Evra, Mr. Tall and Destiny were the only ones who knew about my icy talent and I was excited to show him my new one! When he arrived there was a big crowed around him. I rushed to the front and ran to Cormac, most people let me past because they knew what Cormac was to me! I ran to Cormac and hugged him; I hadn't stopped to think that I looked different with my hair and eyes. He looked down on me and I looked up at him, he said "And who's this?" I started to cry, I whimpered "It's me dad, it's Vix!" I said through tears "Look at me," I hugged him again and looked at him "VIX!" He said "I'm sorry, I dint recognise you, your hair? And your eyes..."He stopped and looked into my eyes which were grey (that's what colour they turned when I was sad) he studied the coloured one and then his gaze travelled to the scared blind one "Your blind in your left eye" I nodded as my other eye went back to its normal brown colour, he looked confused, then angry as he said "Who did this to you?" He said not bothering to hide the anger. I looked at him, then the crowed, I might as well say now "Destiny," I said, there were murmurs as the crowed fell silent. I smiled at him as I said "I've learnt to deal with it, its fine," He smiled and said "Ok then," he hugged me and smiled.

When he saw Evra in the crowed he smiled "Evra Von! how's my favourite two legged reptile!" He boomed "Have you shed your skin lately, you know human snake skin is worth more than gold in some places?" Evra smiled and said "Not yet but when I do you can have as much of it as you want," Cormac nodded. Evra pushed Darren forward, he looked terrified! "Cormac, this is our friend Darren Shan. He's new and he hasn't seen you before." He faked a heart attack that made me and a few others laugh "Never seen Cormac limbs?!" He shouted pretending to be upset "How can this be? I thought everyone in the world had seen the magnificent Cormac limbs in action!"I smiled and said "Darren hasn't even heard of you, "A smile lit up his face when I shouted to everyone "Well then should we have a demonstration from the amazing Cormac limbs!" I was answered by cheers and whistles. Everyone moved back and so did Darren until Cormac laid a hand on his shoulder and said "Not you," Darren waited. When everyone was ready he balled his hand into a fist and put his index finger out and told Darren to put it in his mouth. Darren looked unsure until Evra and I nodded and signalled him to do what Cormac said. Cormac told Darren to bite down on it but Darren was too much of a chicken to do that Cormac shouted "Come on boy, are you a shark or a mouse?!" Darren immediately bit harder and bit the finger clear off, Darren's face drained of colour more than usual, he fell over and spat out the finger and was even more shocked when he saw that out of Cormac's stump was growing a new finger. We all cheered and Darren calmed down. The old finger began to rot and in no more than a minute it was just a lump of greyish brown mould.

After that Mr. Tall spoke to the whole camp, "No more lazing around, we have waited long enough, THE SHOW GOES ON TONIGHT!" We all started rushing around; there would be a lot for me, Darren and Evra to do to help others prepare for the show, before we could rush off to see what needs doing, Mr. Tall pulled me to the side and Mr. Crepsley pulled Darren to the side. "Yes Mr. Tall?" I asked "You have been practising a lot, have you not?" my eyebrows knitted together "Yes," He started to smile "Would you like to have an act in the show tonight?" My entire face lit up, fireworks were going off in my stomach"YES!" I shouted. Darren ran over to me, we both said at exactly the same time "I'm going to be in the show!"We both laughed and hugged each other; he looked at me and asked "would you like to see madam octa?" I nodded, we both headed towards Mr. Crepsley's tent where I would find my next talent.


	8. Chapter 8

When we were in Mr. Crepsley's tent he grabbed his flute and started playing. Luring Madam Octa out of her cage he nodded at me, that was my signal to stay quiet, Madam Octa began creeping towards me, when suddenly I sneezed, Darren jumped and dropped the flute, and he lost connection to Madam Octa when she was on my leg! She hissed and showed her fangs when suddenly Mr. Tiny's words echoed through my head _'all animals will love, understand and obey you' _I said to Madam Octa "Hi," Darren stopped moving completely, madam Octa froze, so I said to her again "Please go back to your cage," She looked at me and I heard her inside my head "Ok, bye, "She crawled back into her cage. Darren's jaw literally dropped to the floor as he stuttered "How did you do that?" I replied "Remember when we went to go see Destiny, and he told me about my new powers, he said all animals will love and obey you," Darren closed his mouth and said "Oh yeah, I remember now, we have to show Mr. Crepsley."He rushed out the tent as I started a conversation with Madam Octa.

Darren rushed in later with Mr. Crepsley in tow; Mr. Crepsley looked quite annoyed "Darren, Vix, what is the meaning of this?" Darren and I smiled as Darren said "It's Vix! She can talk to Madam Octa and Madam Octa can talk to her!"Mr. Crepsley looked very annoyed now "Do not lie, it is a bad quality to possess," to prove him wrong I said to Madam Octa "Madam, can you unlock your cage, come over here and I'll let you nestle on my shoulder if you want to?" Madam Octa unlocked her cage, scuttled across the floor towards me and before Mr. Crepsley could say anything Darren had shoved a hand over his mouth. I talked to Madam again "Now, Madam, do you have anything to say to Mr. Crepsley?" I waited for the answer and giggled, I turned to face Mr. Crepsley "Madam says she needs more water and..."I giggled"To stop using that deodorant, it doesn't help!" Darren laughed at this and so did Madam Octa and I saw Mr. Crepsley go dark pink. "Oh and Darren?" I said still laughing, his face looked serious all of a sudden "She says you need to practice playing the flute," he smiled again when he realised that he wasn't going to be embarrassed by a spider. Mr. Crepsley's face went back to its normal pale colour as he said "Ok, I believe you and tell her I will give her more water from now and on, tell her to go back to her cage," I did and all three of us left the tent.

That night I practiced for the show, I got Evra to watch as I practiced, at the end he said "WOW, you really have been practising." I smiled, then I kicked myself once Evra said "But what are you going to wear? You only have leggings and jumpers, go to Truska, I'm sure she'll help!" I nodded and ran off for a new set of clothes.

I shouted for Truska in her weird seal language, I know a little about her past like she was a skelk, that's why she could grow hair easily and quickly, and that her husband and child got killed by fishermen because skelks live under the sea, that's why she speaks a little like a seal. "Come in!" I heard her shout from inside the tent so I went in. Her tent was very big and was quite clustered, she had railing and railings of clothes at every side of the tent and clothes covered the floor.

She came out huffing and puffing "Everyone wants new costumes and I need to find them all, anyway, whose are you picking up?" I smiled and she stopped to look at me, I barked "Actually, I came to pick up one for me!" Her face brightened as she barked back "What! Yes, you will be amazing, I have the perfect thing, wait here," I nodded; I hope she doesn't bring me back a dress, I hate them with a fiery passion but I guess their nice if the pattern and style is nice, I've never really been that girly. She came back not a minute later with a few boxes, I opened the one on top and I found the most gorgeous pair of leggings I've ever seen, they were also perfect for my act, they were black with flowers lining the bottom and around the flowers were swirls and patterns. I opened the next box exited to see what I would find; it was a dark blue tank top with bubbles all around it, my smile grew wider. I opened the next box; I didn't think I could get much more exited. In the last box I found a jacket with fiery patterns all around the sleeves and hems, I didn't need anything too fancy because I was only 13. She pushed me towards the back room of the tent so that I could get dressed.

I came out and I loved the outfit so much I pulled Truska into a massive hug, I barked "Thank you so much! I love it!" realisation dawned on my face "I need shoes!" She put her finger up to say '1 min'. A few seconds later she rushed through the tent and gave me a pair of daps, with no sole! Awesome, now I can grow the flowers without putting my hands on the floor.


	9. Chapter 9

It was almost time for the show! I was so excited, I was actually going to perform and so was Darren and so was Evra! Not only was I going to perform but I had my own act! I was distracted when Darren tapped me on the shoulder and whispered "That's my queue, I'm on now." I smiled and said "Good luck, you'll do great," From the books I had read I knew he was going to think about killing Mr. Crepsley, He didn't like Crepsley for taking him from his family.

He went on and when it was time for Darren to go on he played perfectly but just to make sure I sent a mental mind message to him "Don't kill him, please," The performance went on without a hitch and when Darren came back he said to me "I thought I heard someone say not to kill him, I was but that stopped me, I wonder who it was?" I looked him in the eye and said "It was me," His jaw dropped "But how did you do that?" I sighed; I might as well tell him "I know everything about you, that's how I know about Sam, I know about your past, present and..." I let out a deep breath "and your future," He just stared "That's how I knew you were going to try to kill Mr. Crepsley, I also know about why you went back to Mr. Crepsley in the theatre, you were about to drink from your sister, you saw yourself in the mirror and you saw darkness, just pure darkness." He closed his mouth and said "So what's going to happen to me?" I just looked at him; I knew this was coming "It is not my Destiny to tell you," Then I heard Mr. Tall shout from stage "Now we have a new act, she is amazing and will have you on the edge of your seat, please welcome Victoria Hale!" I smiled as Darren shook my hand and said "Good Luck," I winked and said "Don't need it, I'm too good!" He laughed and waved as I walked on stage.

This was so scary; everyone's eyes were on me! I cleared my throat and said loudly "Hi, I am Victoria but please call me Vix!" Everyone clapped and cheered waiting to hear my challenge. We had our tent set up at the moment so the floor was mud and grass, good, perfect for my earth act. I had an idea "Please put your hand up and tell me your favourite fruit or veg?" Someone finally put their hand up and said "Strawberries," I nodded and smiled, I dug my toes into the ground and made a strawberry plant grow from the ground, they cheered and I made strawberry plants grow all around "Pick one when you want something to eat, Now to get to the next part of my act, "I rubbed my hands together "Does anyone have any water?" Someone dug a bottle of water out of their bag and held it up "Can you please open it I said to them, I am quite thirsty," They frowned and said "Should I just bring it to you then?" I smiled again "No, just open it please," They unscrewed the lid and held it, I made the water stream out the bottle and drunk about half of it in midair when someone shouted "FAKE! You don't have a talent, it's just an illusion, I looked at the water in the midair and smirked, my eye turned red (Not the grey blind one) as a growled "So you think this is fake water then?" They stood up and nodded, my smirk covered my whole face now "Well then lets test it out then should we?" Suddenly before the person could react I had made the water turn into sharp ice stakes, sent them flying at the guy, about 5 cm away from the squealing guy I had stopped them completely and turned them back to water. "Do you think it's real now?" I said sarcastically to the whimpering man, he shook his head, my eyes turned an even deeper red as I said "Then I think you should leave," He nodded and turned to leave, I smiled and winked at the audience. There was a scream as the cold water drenched the man on the way out "Bye!" I shouted to him. "Anyway, who wants to see the rest of my act?" I was answered by a cheering audience. Next I said "I was told I have a fiery temper, let's put that to the test" as I Made fireballs in my hand. I made the fire snake its way up my arm, when it got to my elbow it flew up into the air and made the shape of a dragon that flew round the cirque over everyone's head.

I bowed as I said "Thank you, I hope you enjoyed my act, more sweets and souvenirs will be available on your way out and I hope you enjoyed the show." I left the staging area but waited for the screams. This was when Evra comes on, to give the audience one last scare. Finally the show was over where I left the stage and went outside and made moonflowers grow everywhere, this type of flower only blooms at night so it was perfect for now.

On the way out the audience congratulated me and shook my hand and complimented the show, I saw some girls on the way out that were saying how they liked all the acts apart from that weird eyed girl, I made nettles appear in front of her and made the wind mess up her hair, and then I poured water from the nettles behind her on her and to tip it off I set the end of her dress on fire! That was funny to watch; I stepped in front of her and tapped her on the shoulder "Do you want me to put that out for you?" I said, "YES, YES, YES!" She squealed. I pulled some more water out of the grass and put it on the hem of her dress which was now just a charred line, she looked at me, didn't say thanks and left, "Jeez, that girl is so weird!" I heard her say to her friends, I turned around my eyes a blazing red colour and smiled as the girl tripped over a vine that 'had appeared out of nowhere'.

Back in the tent I saw Darren and Evra talking about something, but they didn't seem very happy. Darren turned to me and said "I met a guy called R.V today," My breath hitched; basically I knew what R.V would unintentionally cause. "Yeah?" I said "I want to know what will happen if I invite him to the show because he is so fond of animals?" I had a mental battle with myself "I think that you should do what your gut tells you," I said not sure if I had said the right thing. "But I want to come and hang out with you guys and Sam from now on." He brightened up now. We went back to the tent for some sleep because that performance took a lot out of me. I changed into my pyjamas and went to my hammock, told Marley to go to sleep and went to sleep myself.

The next morning we got told that we had the day off, Mr. Tall obviously realised that we were tired and we were grateful that we did, we also had another show in the next two days. We got bored chatting in the tent so we went out for a walk and met Sam and R.V at the abandoned railroad station. I waved at Sam and R.V looked at me suspiciously and he should, my eye was a deeper red than I had ever known before. Evra nudged me in my ribcage and whispered "Vix! Eye!" I said "Oh" slowly it turned back to its normal brown colour. "R.V this is Victoria," Darren said I growled "But she likes to be called Vix," He carried on. I shook his hand and said "I have an ability, I just don't want to tell you about it." I hissed, again Evra elbowed me in the ribs "OW!" I said "Stop doing that... seriously!" I said to him "Well then don't be rude," "Fine!" I groaned, I then said through gritted teeth "I am very sorry, I will show you what I can do now," I kicked my shoes off and smiled at R.V, he was going to hate this bit. I killed all the grass and plants around me, sucking the water and life out of them, and then I drank the water as he gasped. He was an eco warrior so he cared about plants and animals. "Why would you do that?!" He yelled Darren tapped him on the shoulder "Just wait," he said smiling. I sat down in the middle of the dead circle of plants, focused on all the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen and suddenly burst of life came out the ground as all over the field flowers and trees sprouted and grew into beautiful colours and sizes. I looked back at R.V who was staring at what I had created "wow..." Was all he could manage to say? After a while of staring in awe he said "What else can you do?" He asked. I put my hand up and suddenly a little flame appeared "Mind, I have a VERY fiery temper," He gulped and stuttered "A...a...alright," I sent him a little mind message "I mean it!" after the flame had gone out I made the wind swirl in all directions...He knew my warning was real.


	10. Chapter 10

We spent the next two days hanging out with R.V and Sam, I warmed to Sam a little but then reminded myself that it would just make his death more hurtful and I was always spiteful and secretive to R.V when it came to my powers, the truth was I couldn't use them if I was tired or even hungry because I had to be completely focused. All Sam could talk (and rant) about is how it would be cool if he could join the cirque, Darren had already asked Mr. Crepsley and he said that Sam had to become a half vampire too. So Darren told Sam no, but he won't give up, I know he wont.

One day when Darren and Evra were busy I grabbed my sketch book and went to meet Sam and R.V down the field; I made R.V happy by adding more and tending to the flowers all over the field. While he was prancing round like a fairy I decided to draw Sam in my sketch book. Once I was finished I showed Sam he gasped and called R.V over. I closed my sketch book when I saw Darren and Evra run over, smiling like idiots. I asked them why they were wearing massive sloppy grins they replied "There's another show tonight," I fist punched the air. Darren said to R.V and Sam "Oh yeah, I have tickets for you guys!" I stood up and left, before I could Evra asked "What have you got there?" H asked curiously. "Here," I said "It's all my drawing throughout my life; I put the date down on everything." I handed him the sketch book aware of what he was going to see. He flicked through until he got about a quarter of the way through, he gasped and muttered "You drew this two years ago, I've known you for about a month and this is a drawing of me?" I snatched back the sketch book and flicked to a certain page then handed it to Evra "But this is Darren and me, and who's this?" He pointed towards a young girl, about the same height, had dark, long, brown hair to match her big dark brown eyes. "That was me before I joined the cirque du freak," I smiled, he looked at me sympathetically, "You looked really nice," Darren said "Oh really, I _looked _really nice," I said jokingly. He looked at me and said "NO, no, no, no that's not what I meant!" I looked at him blankly and said "Darren, I know, it's called a joke," R.V flipped a few pages and said "This is me, but why do I have hooks for hands and purple skin? Why do I have red eyes and lips and even red hair!?" I didn't know what to say so I just said "You will see." Before I left with my sketch book to get ready for the show.

I knew R.V liked flowers so I would put a lot of my earth element into this show and I think I'll ask if Marley can be in the show as well so I can show off how I speak to animals. Darren came in so we could talk about my act. When I told Marley that he would be in it he was overjoyed an asked if he could help sniff out drugs and alcohol like they did on the cop shows they used to show at our human house. I told him yes and he wouldn't shut up, but of course to Darren it was just a load of yapping.

Night came, it was time for the show to begin, I looked from behind the curtain and I saw R.V and Sam sitting in conjoining seats muttering happily. I was again the last performance apart from Evra of course. Until then I decided to do some drawing. I sat on a stool and got to work, I had decided to draw R.V nicely, as a human because I knew that soon he was about to become so inhumane it was impossible. I drew him smiling in a field full of flowers and plants with a careless look in his eyes. I made sure to include his patchy clothes and his massive beard and his weird way of looking at the world. I stopped drawing and sent Marley to sniff around bags and people to see if there was anyone with illegal drugs or any other sort of that like alcohol and stuff.

When it was time for me to go on I introduced myself, asked about the fruits and veggies that anyone liked, R.V's hand shot straight up I listened to his answer. Strawberries and blueberries sprouted all around the tent. For R.V I sprouted some special mushrooms that numb pain, He would be feeling a lot of that soon! I did the same thing with water that I did last time and with fire and made . After the water part of my act had finished I called Marley onto the stage and reassured the audience "Another one of my many talents is that I can communicate with animals. I spoke to Marley "So, are there any bad people that I should maybe, kick out?" I listened to a yap in reply, I stood up and said "Third row, seventh seat from the right," I counted until I found the right seat and what I saw shocked me, it was Steve smirking evilly. How is he here! I don't remember him being here in the book but I guess that's because Darren never noticed him. I smiled and sent a mind message to him "Get out!" He shook his head, I just gave my own evil smirk and what he didn't notice was the end of his trousers was on fire! He started to panic and as he ran out the tent I added a sly warning "my lord!" I apologised to the audience, "Sorry, he was carrying illegal alcohol, anyway, that concludes our amazing show, more treats and goodies will be available on your way out, thank you and goodbye," I didn't even wait for the screams when Evra comes on, I headed straight outside to try and find Steve.

I wondered around outside but it was dark so I put a little flame in my hand, I found him sitting on a moss-covered stone bench not noticing the cold, because of my past powers I no longer felt the cold either. "Hi," He said still smiling evilly; I pulled some dirt off the ground and hardened it into a dagger, "What do you want!" I snapped "Why are you here?" he stood up, my grip on the dagger in my hand tightened. He tried to move quickly but I had secretly been taking lessons from Mr. Crepsley on defence and offence. I held out my spare hand as he ran right into it, not a moment later I was on him, my dagger pressed against his throat, "What do you want?" I hissed. He said nothing for a while and then he laughed "You are just as pretty in person!" EW! Was he actually hitting on me? The dagger bit even deeper into his skin and drew blood. "Go away, I never want to see you again," I said, standing up. "Destiny said to me, if I was to win anything I must have you on my side." He said. I laughed "Not. Going. To. Happen, end of." I sneered. He retaliated by saying "He said you would be hard to win over, but it will happen." I laughed again "Nope, bye," I waved and left to go back to the tent. When I got back I went to the tent but ran into Truska on the way, I said to her "can you get Darren some new clothes please?"

I don't think I'm going to do another show for a while, using my talents too much is starting to take its toll on me. After the run in with Steve I didn't go out to see Sam and R.V anymore, I just stayed in the tent and had a chat with Marley and did my chores. I had to help Darren with going to get 'Lefty' some food so we went to a nearby field and tried to find a weak lamb. Darren walked over to it and tried to snap its neck, there was a horrible creaking sound but it did not die, it just lay there on the ground, so I took out one of my knives ( I always carried 2, it was all I could fight with) and stabbed it right through its stomach. I didn't want to do that because I was the one hearing it shouts "please! No!" We were both pretty tired, Darren from his lack of blood and me from the exhausting two shows. Darren told me that Mr. Crepsley was trying to force blood into him; he told me he was trying to get him to drink from a dead person. We turned back and as we were dragging the lamb we saw R.V perched on one of the fence posts looking at us in horror. "How could you!" I stopped him there, pulled my dagger and said "We don't liked doing this, we don't want to do this, it's me who heard her pleas, it's me who had to finish her off, I hated doing that but I had to!" He went into a big rant about how we were murderers and then went on to rave about the wolf man. Darren saw no point in arguing and lobbed the lamb right at R.V, it hit him square on the chest and he landed on the ground with a _thud!_ I took my moment and pounced on R.V while he was down "You won't bring anyone, you won't interfere and you most defiantly won't come back to the cirque! Get it! Good!" I snapped. R.V looked with terror-filled eyes and nodded. I jumped back off him, Darren grabbed the lamb, and we both trudged back to the cirque du freak, with shame filled eyes.


	11. Chapter 11

That night I slept long and thought hard. If I could wait for R.V then maybe I could stop him. But the problem with that is that Sam won't die, Darren won't get his first drink and Darren will die. I decided to wait for Darren in the dark and help him when he does come.

Darren decided not to do the next show because he was too weak and may lose his concentration. The night of the show I knew what would happen so I just hid in the shadows of the wolf mans cage. I saw someone approach and I knew who it was, R.V. I waited watching him trying to free the wolf man, when I saw Darren come I sent a mental mind message to R.V "Stop." Is all I said? He jumped and turned around where Darren was standing R.V looked glad it was just Darren, but then I turned up with my knife in hand and I had caught up on my sleep that night so I was all good for a fight. His face got paler as I appeared but he didn't falter. He told us that we shouldn't keep creatures locked up, my good eye went a deep red but then the excitement came, all of a sudden he stopped talking, his face went a deathly shade of white and when he looked down, he could no longer see his hands just stubs spurting a red liquid, he ran off into the night shouting "MY HANDS, MY HANDS, WHERE ARE MY HANDS!". The door to the cage opened. The wolf man was out.

The wolf man gave a pleased grunt and jumped right over us and started chasing an unknown target. There was a bag on the ground, a dirty yellow rucksack and inside on the worn out label it said 'property of Sam Grest'. Darren dropped the bag and ran as fast as he could. I was going to warn someone but I had to run after Darren. Even though Darren was tired and weak he could still run faster than me so I got to the old abandoned railroad a few minutes later than Darren. I walked into an old, dusty train car when suddenly I here a "NOW!" Everything goes dark.

My eyelids flutter open but I'm still a little groggy. The first thing I see when I look around is a dusty broken old train car, what am I doing here? I thought to myself. The memory hit me like a ton of bricks the wolf man, Sam, Darren! I shot up, but as soon as I did a very sharp pain stabbed the side of my head, I fell back down and heard a voice, Sam's voice "Sorry, I thought you were the wolf man." My eye flared a blood red "It's alright," I said once I managed to get up without the pain. I crouched down next to them and whispered "I'm going to count to three and we're going to leg it as fast as we can", they nodded so I started counting "One," We stood up "two," we got ready to run "Thre..." I begun but before I could finish a pair of hairy hands broke through the bottom of the train car and grabbed Sam's ankles. He screamed in terror and flailed his arms wildly.

Darren yanked Sam out of the wolf man's grip after a few moments of struggling. We ran as fast as our legs would carry us. We ran outside with the wolf man hot on our trail, since he was mostly animal I could hear him, but he didn't speak in sentences, he just repeated words like "Hungry, dead, blood, eat!" like a crazy person. Darren told me to stay to the side but I just answered with a simple "No," First I entangled the wolf man in vines and shot some fire balls at him but that didn't do much. Darren ran at him and knocked him off balance. The wolf man cut his snout and wasn't up for playing around anymore, he sent a flurry of fists at Darren. Darren managed to dodge most of them but the last one, by luck, hit him square in the jaw, he passed out. The wolf man now focused on Sam, I stepped in the way blocking his path to Sam, and my eye was the darkest most blood thirsty red I had ever known. Now he was angry. He howled like he had done before, he didn't bother trying to kill me, he just threw a punch at my head, I felt pain and then total bliss.

I woke up to the sound of sobbing. I got up and as soon as I did all the pains in my head flared up at once, I had to lie back down. Then I heard a familiar voice "Just lie down for a while, the damage to your head is quite big, just rest." Realisation dawned on my face, it was Mr. Crepsley. I sat up slowly and noticed the carnage around me, a bent metal bar, a knocked out wolf man, a sobbing Darren and a dead Sam! I crawled over to where Darren was kneeling; there were two puncture marks in the side of Sam's neck. Darren looked at me with blood stained lips, I started crying too, I pulled him into a hug. Some of the cirque arrived a while later, with me and Darren sobbing on each other's shoulders. Two little people came over and started to pick up Sam's mangled body "What are you doing?!" Darren screamed. Mr. Tall coughed uncomfortably "Well, I guess we have to dispose of him," Darren thought about that for a moment before screeching "You're going to eat him?!" Mr. Tall just nodded and said "Fine, you can dig a grave but we are leaving soon so hurry up," Darren nodded and got to work.

Mr. Crepsley jumped in the hole with Darren and so did a little person "You go rest, I'll dig faster." Darren nodded and walked away, I followed. When I got there Evra was already comforting Darren. I sat down and hugged my knees close to my chest. "I'm sorry, I could have done more to help," I whispered. Darren said nothing; Evra just said "It's okay." I felt so bad for what I hadn't done that I stood up, brushed myself off and said "I'll be back in a few days, I need to think things through, Marley is ill and old, tell him that I am sorry and I'm sure there will be plenty of food in paradise," Evra looked up at me and pleaded "Please, don't go, someone could hurt you," That was a lame attempt "Bye Evra," I gave Evra a hug and then turned to Darren "I'm going because I feel bad about Sam, I will visit his grave and do what I can, I'm sorry and bye." I turned around and left, travelling to Sam's grave.


	12. Chapter 12

I arrived at Sam's grave, it was eerily quiet. I knelt down and vines sprouted over the grave to form a big ark above his grave, I knew it was temporary but I wanted to make it special. Peony's sprouted over the arch to form the words Sam Grest. I smiled and left.

I walked until I found the woods, I collected some twigs and laid them in a pyramid, I Lit a small flame on the tip of my finger and put it down under the twigs. The twigs caught fire and slowly burned. I stared into the flames thinking what would of happened if I would have never said yes to Desmond Tiny on that fateful night. I hear footsteps coming towards the camp, I pull a knife. There is a shadow walking towards me but when he comes into the light I find that it is none other than...Steve Leopard.

"What do you want?" I said glumly lowering my knife to the ground. "Why the long face?" He said sarcastically, lowering himself next to me. "Go away," I growled as I quickly shuffled away from him. He looked at me, a conspicuous look in his eye. "I'm sorry," He said smirking. All I can say is that I should have kept hold of my dagger. He bashed me on the head and shoved a needle with something red in it into my arm. I felt a burning sensation. And I blacked out (for the 3rd time today)!

I opened my eyes; I was chained up in some sort of cellar. I felt weird, very weird. I looked around one more time. I saw gray paint chipped walls, a cold stone floor, candles lit all around the room. The iron door swung open as a very evil Steve walked in. "So, you're awake then wolfy?" Who was he calling wolfy?! I tried to remember last night's events, Sam's death, Darren drinking, me leaving, the woods, Steve, hitting me on the head then... the needle! "What was in that needle? And why did you call me wolfy?" He laughed a maniacal laugh "You said you like the vampires more, and vampires descend from wolves, you like animals so why not put some wolf blood into your blood stream? I see its working nicely!" I pulled at my bushy tail, wait a minute _my tail! _"OW!" I yelled before I growled at him. He laughed again and brought out a mirror while I was stroking my tail trying to stop the pain. I looked in the mirror; I looked exactly the same apart from two wolf ears on the top of my head! I looked at him again "Why?" I asked, he bent down and looked me in the eye "Think of this as blackmail, I have the antidote, you can join me and have the wolf blood out of your body or," I eyed him up and down "Or what?" I said "Well you'll probably just stay like this or you know become crazy like the wolf man," I looked at the ground, "I'm not joining you," I said simply. He looked angry now, that was a sight I very much enjoyed.

He laughed and said "Well, my, my, you are a tough one, I'll just have to keep hurting you till you accept," He laughed again and left, leaving me breathless for words. What did he mean by hurt me, I would find out later, I closed my eyes and went to sleep; this was too much for me to handle.

I woke up to the sound of footsteps walking to the door. I sat up and watched to see who came in; to my surprise (NOT) it was Steve. I looked him over and noticed he was carrying gasoline. He dumped a load of it all over the floor and a load over me, he looked around and just before he left he said "Let's see just how powerful you are." He chucked in a lit match; the whole room went up in a blaze. I gagged and then realised I needed to concentrate if I was going to come out of this un-burned. I closed my eyes and concentrated, stay away, stay away, stay away I told the fire. I managed to not get hurt but I was running out of air. I put all my concentration on the fire. It started to go down and then finally after 5 minutes of hard work, the fire extinguished itself. I gulped down the fresh air greedily.

Steve walked in and nodded "Impressive, now show me how you use your water controlling. He left and brought back a cup of water. He put the cup in the middle of the floor, I looked at him, and I might as well do what he wants. I made the water stream towards me; about a centimetre away from my face I stopped the stream, formed it into ice stakes and sent them flying at Steve. I pinned him to the wall. I made a vine come out of the ground and undo the lock on my shackles, I stood up and rubbed my wrists, I made the air whip his face and vines tie his hands and feet to the ground, I smiled sweetly and said "Now, if you excuse me I'll be going." I left the room and got outside, I was only a few metres away from the camp fire I had made. I noticed straight away I could hear and smell better. I flattened my ears down on the top of my head and finger combed my hair over them, I wrapped my tail around my waist and now I sort of looked how I used to. I went to the nearest town and bought a bandanna which I wrapped around the side of my face and over my ears.

I started to run back to camp and realised that I was also going at a faster pace but I never really got that tired. The only thing I was afraid of is how I was going to explain this to Darren and Evra. And what if I became like the wolf man, savage and un-feeling and full of loneliness.

When I finally got to camp Evra and Darren were just going to bed. I snuck into the tent and tapped them on the shoulder, Darren smiled but only because he was tired. Evra drew me into a massive hug and exclaimed "Where were you, I missed you so much!" I smiled and said "Evra, Where's Marley?" His smile was replaced with a frown "He died, yesterday night," I said to Evra "Thank you for telling me, now I need to show you something. I unwrapped my tail from around my waist and took the bandanna off my head. He just stared, after what seemed like ages he said "W...How?" I smiled and said "I had an allergic reaction with the wolf man, so now I am half wolf but I'm not crazy like him." He sighed "That's good," I remembered "See you tomorrow Evra, I need to go see Mr. Tall about this," I pointed to my ears and tail.

I walked through camp and found Mr. Tall's trailer. I knocked and heard a gruff voice that could only belong to Mr. Tall. "Come in Vix," It said, it didn't surprise me that he knew it was me. I pushed open the door and waved to Mr. Tall. I could hear something breathing but I wasn't sure what it was. He smiled sympathetically "Sorry about the wolf thing, and about your dog's death, I knew it must be sad to lose a lifelong companion that is what I want to talk to you about though," I cocked my head to the side, like a wolf, I guess I would behave more wolf-like now though. He said "I have a new pet for you, one that will be more like you," He whistled a high pitched whistle that split my eardrums in two. A beautiful gray, female, baby wolf proudly walked into the middle of the trailer. "Hi," I said to her she whined and said "Hello, I guess we're going to have to stick together now, aren't we?" I laughed "I guess so," Mr. Tall watched with great interest as I spoke to the animal. "I hope you two have a good time with one another." I translated for the wolf. We both bowed our heads and ran out the tent, happy with each other's company.

I sat outside with the baby wolf, I tickled behind her ears and we spoke to each other about our past, I told her everything about me up to sitting here in the field. She told me that she was abandoned as a youngster and was only found the other day by Mr. Tall. I said to her "He's the leader of the camp, in the camp there is even a vampire, vampires are descended from wolves," She asked me what a vampire was I told her everything I knew about them, which was a lot. We were looking up at the stars when Evra and his snake came to us, we heard them way before they got to us, and a wolves sense of hearing is good I guess. I made a new dagger, Steve had taken my old ones, when I realised it was only Evra and his snake I relaxed because for some reason I thought it was Steve. But my wolf didn't relax, she didn't know Evra, she stepped in front of me and growled. I stroked her fur and said "its okay, this is Evra, and he's a friend. And that is his pet snake, he is also a friend." She nodded and relaxed and went back to being perched on my lap.

Evra looked at the baby she-wolf, which I had decided to name Misty. He was about to ask but before I could I said "Evra, I'm too tired, let's go back to the tent and sleep, please?" He nodded; we all plodded back to the tent, too tired to say anything.

The next morning I couldn't wait to see everyone's faces when they saw my ears and tail! I was still asleep when Mr. Crepsley walked into the tent; I woke up and said groggily "What are you doing here?" He just looked at me, and then at my ears, then at my big bushy tail, "I smelt some wolves," I nodded and moaned "Yeah, that's me and Misty," He said "Yes, I figured that much from your ears and tail, who is Misty," Misty at that moment yawned and stretched an dumped onto my lap. "Mr. Crepsley, this is Misty, Misty this is Mr. Crepsley, the vampire," She yapped happily and jumped to Mr. Crepsley "I told her that you were descended from wolves," He nodded and gave Misty back to me. I chucked on a jumper and some leggings and went to go get breakfast for me and Misty.

I walked out of the tent, stretched and went to the campfire, when Misty and I arrived at the campfire I sat down, Misty sat at my feet. Everyone was staring at us awkwardly so I broke the silence by saying to Truska in her language "Hi, Truska can you pass me two sausages." She nodded without saying a word and passed me two sausages that had been cooling down. I ripped one into pieces and put it on the floor for Misty, she ate it with a "Thank you," I then, excuse the pun, wolfed it down.

Evra finally asked the question "What happened?" I explained and told them about how I felt funny, left and apparently had an allergic reaction to the wolf-man. They bought it luckily. I also explained how I came to own Misty.


	13. Chapter 13

I had noticed other things as well, Darren had tested my blood and was ill for a few days and 18 months had passed but I only looked 4 or 5 months older. It was fun having races with Darren because he could run a little faster but I could run for longer at a slower pace.

It was fun going out to get food in the morning because it was nice and cool and me and Misty were probably the best duo when it came to hunting. Evra said to us "Yes, found a dead dog." Me and Darren sniffed the air, I had a better sense of smell than him, when it came to hearing we could both hear about the same. "It's fine, stuff it in the bag!" We yelled back, he was quite a long way off but we could smell it fine. I normally felt bad about killing animals because all animals like me and will come when called, I normally didn't do this because it would make them feel safe and then they would be killed

Darren dug a silver cross out of and put it on the floor. He clicked his finger but nothing happened, I laughed, Mr. Crepsley used his speed, Darren didn't know this though. He got angry "What you laughing at!" I shrugged "Nothing," Misty was only a little bigger; she reached about half way up my shin. She was an amazing light gray colour and she was my best friend, along with her were Darren and Evra.

We went back to camp but nobody needed any chores doing, so we had a good relaxing day, just before dinner we went to Mr. Crepsley's tent, we had a few hours before the show, I pretty much had the same act as I first did except now I got Misty to help out as well, she loved it, she was a big puppy dog really, she went around and let people stroke her, she also checked people for drugs and alcohol while doing this as well. I made a special whistle that only Misty could hear; she knew to come to me then.

I sat enjoying watching Darren getting angry trying to move the cross. He was shouting and yelling at the cross when Mr. Crepsley walked in; this was going to be funny. "Mr. Crepsley, I've worked it out but Darren wants to know how you magically move the cross?" I said, Darren went an angry and embarrassed shade of red. Mr. Crepsley smiled, making him look even creepier than he normally did. Mr. Crepsley clicked his fingers and suddenly the cross was in his hand, it's easy to see what he did when you know what you're looking for. Darren face still shows confusion; Mr. Crepsley does it again, still nothing. "Darren?" I ask "Watch Mr. Crepsley, not the cross," He nods and this time he watches Mr. Crepsley, he saw how he did it "You moved, not the cross!" Darren shouted in excitement. I clapped sarcastically "Well done Einstein," We both laugh; all Mr. Crepsley does is give a nod, the stuffy old bat! "But, why did you click your fingers?" Ugh, I'm just going to explain this to him "Darren? It's to distract the eye, to give you something to focus on!" He nodded. Darren asked about locks and Mr. Crepsley told him about static electricity or something like that, me and Misty were focused on something outside, it sounded like very heavy breathing.

I did the classic thing that wolves do, I got down on all fours and growled at the man who had walked in and two blades pressed up against Mr. Crepsley's and Darren's necks. I got up and said to Misty who was still growling "It's okay, it's just Gavner. He is also a vampire." Gavner looked at me and said "How did you know?" I shrugged "I know a lot of things, plus your heavy breathing gave you away, I heard you easily," He looked disappointed at that. Mr. Crepsley had heard him as well, then became glad again because Darren hadn't heard him.

Gavner said "So who are you?" to me. I eyed him up and down "Vix," He looked at my tail, "Please don't stare," I said sourly. Mr. Crepsley said "Vix, Darren this is my old friend Gavner purl, He is a vampire general." That sparked Darren's interest, his face showed only curiosity. Gavner stroked Misty and said "And who is this?" I said "This is my best friend, Misty, careful she is very sarcastic," He looked at me and questioned "How do you know?" Mr. Crepsley replied before I could "Vix can talk to animals and is part wolf herself." Gavner nodded and said "That's pretty cool,"

Darren asked what a vampire general was. Mr. Crepsley and Gavner explained that they keep an eye on vampires and make sure they are obeying the vampire law. Gavner also asked "What do you two do around here." I replied "Well I have my own act, Darren helps in an act, and we do odd chores and gather food for the little people..." Gavner and Mr. Crepsley had a chat about the little people, Gavner wasn't happy about how there were a lot of little people at the cirque at the moment. Gavner said "It's normally very boring being a vampire general most of the time." Mr. Crepsley then said "I have been expecting you, let us go talk about the matter." Gavner looked surprised and asked about why Mr. Crepsley had been expecting him. "I have made no attempt to hide the boy and I will mention it in my trial." Gavner's eyes travelled down to Darren's fingertips "The boys a vampire, I knew nothing of this; he is only a half-vampire," I coughed "I think I'm going to go now," I walked out of the tent, Misty at my heel.

We walked to the field where I talked to Misty "Gavner came to tell Mr. Crepsley that there is a crazy vampanise killing people, you know how I know." She nodded and said "So, if they're going to go can I come with you?" I laughed and said "We'll see, okay," She then said glumly "Ok." We decided to play fight. After a while Darren came to see us "I got to go get ready for the show, race you to the tent!" Me and Misty looked at each other and nodded "Challenge accepted!" I shouted and ran at full speed back towards the cirque.

By the time we got to our tent we were doubled over and panting. We went inside and chatted to Evra for a while. Darren asked me "What is the vampire council?" I smiled and said "It's a giant conference between the vampires and happens every 10-12 years or something like that." Darren said that he was going to perform instead of Mr. Crepsley. He asked me to help since I could easily control Madam Octa. I also had my own act to deal with.


	14. Chapter 14

The night of the show was fun. Darren went on after Hans Hands and did what Mr. Crepsley normally did, while I took his place. After Darren's act was finished he walked off while I stayed on. I introduced myself "Hi, my name is Vix and this," I did my whistle; Misty ran on stage, "is my pet wolf Misty, I am half wolf and can talk to animals, I can also control the elements." At that point I made a fire dragon fly around the audience and made strawberries grow out of the ground. I made the wind whip around the tent and pulled water out of the grass and made it snake around the audience. I bellowed "Misty will now walk around while I do my tricks, you can stroke her as well, and she is very tame." Misty walked around and almost everyone stroked her or tickled her behind the ears, when she came back I asked her "So Misty, are there any bad people here?" She said to me "Nope." I waved my good bye and walked off the stage, leaving it free for Truska, the bearded lady.

When I came back to our tent Mr. Crepsley and Darren were talking about leaving the cirque for a while. Darren complained "But I don't want to go, I need someone to talk to and I don't think you are the best person to do that with!" Then Mr. Crepsley thought of something "What if we take Evra and Vix with us!" Darren contemplated the idea and nodded "Yes," He turned to face me in the doorway "Do you want to come with us?" I smiled a big smile "YEAH!" I heard Misty whine "Can Misty come as well?" Mr. Crepsley sighed "I guess so!" Misty barked happily when I told her that she could come!

Next we went to go and find Evra. Evra wasn't too happy about parting with the cirque or his snake for that matter. I said to Evra "We could go to the cinema, do what we want and even go swimming," He considered it then grinned "Sure, why not!" me and Darren smiled at him; this was going to be fun.

We spent the day packing. Darren had to pack for himself and Mr. Crepsley. The only things I owned were all in one duffel bag so that was lucky. I was going to catch the train with Darren, Evra and Mr. Crepsley. Then I remembered that I was bringing Misty. Mr. Crepsley gave me a map and I was to meet them there. I left a day before them with all my belongings and Misty. Mr. Tall gave me £500! One thing I really wanted to buy was a guitar; I learnt how to play one in my human life plus it would help me earn more money.

It was about five towns over, it was a long journey. Truska gave me a special headband to cover my ears; I curled up my tail around my waist and went on my way. I got to the first town and thought that I should save money to start with; it was a brilliant summer day so I went and looked around all the shops. I went to a music shop to buy a guitar. I found the most beautiful acoustic guitar, nylon string, Brazilian rose wood body, perfection. I had to buy it, I told Misty to wait by the giant dumpster round the side of the shop. I walked into the shop and said to the attendant "How much is that guitar, it's beautiful?" The attendant looked at me, he looked quite mean but when he spoke there was kindness "one hundred and fifty pounds." I said "I'll take it, and a case as well please." He got the guitar off of the rack and zipped it up in a case "That will be 160 please," I nodded and dug the money out of my pocket. I gave the money to the assistant, he printed off a receipt, handed me the guitar in its case, nodded, I walked out the shop with my new guitar on my back.

I continued walking following the map Mr. Crepsley gave me. I walked for about a week before I got to the forth town, I think it was. While I was there I bought some food and some new trousers because it was starting to snow now. I decided to sleep somewhere outside, I have no idea why though. I kept walking the snow-covered streets, it was dark, some of the streetlamps didn't work, hardly any people apart from a group of teenagers smoking by a wall. I turned down an alley and pulled some pieces of paper and cardboard out of a big bin at the end of the alley. I piled up the scraps and lit them on fire. I sat there for a few minutes before seeing two young boys slink over to the fire. I put my hand on the hilt of my knife "Who are you two?" They looked at each other questionably, they both nodded, one of them said "This is Little Kenny and I'm Declan." I relaxed because I remembered reading about these two. "Hi, I'm Vix, you look really cold, come over." I gave them a friendly smile to show I meant no harm to them. They crawled over and cuddled up to the fire. We sat chatting for a while then I whistled. They looked at me like I was crazy, then Misty came. They looked terrified, Misty was growling, I said to her in her own language "It's alright; this is Declan and Little Kenny." She relaxed and said "Ok, good," Declan and Little Kenny looked even more scared now "W...W...W" I sighed and rolled my eyes, I explained stuff in brief "I'm from a freak show, I am part wolf, I can control the elements, I'm meeting my friends in the next town over." They looked stunned.

They still didn't believe me, fine I would prove it then. I looked at the fire and made it go out, they both shuddered. I then lit a big flame in my hand and held it out to them. They gasped and said "Okay, we believe you can control the elements but you said you were half wolf?" I sighed, "Well, you're going to see sometime," I took the hair band off and twitched my ears; it was really hard to hear with it on. They gasped; if they were shocked at that they should see this! I unwrapped my tail, they both smiled and said in unison "Wow..." I wrapped back up and relit the fire, we chatted about my powers when finally I asked "Who are those guys?" I pointed a finger at the group of teenagers with hooded jackets at the end of the alley. Declan replied "Those guys follow us and whenever we get money they take it, they make fun of us and beat us up sometimes as well, they follow us every night," At that moment one of the teenagers wolf-whistled and shouted at the two boys "Got yourself a girlfriend have you?" I stood up and brushed myself off "Excuse me for a second will you?" They looked at me and said "They are really good at fighting." I laughed and said "Ok...but I'm better." I smiled and walked towards the boys at the end of the alley, Misty walking with me, growling. I smiled sweetly at the boys and said "Will you please leave my friends alone?" They laughed and said "No, what you going to do 'bout it?" I sighed theatrically "I hoped I wouldn't have to do this." I bent down to Misty and whispered "Attack, just scare, don't hurt, actually maybe a scratch or two." She did her strange wolf smile as the boy said "Wouldn't have to do w..." Before he finished he was on his back, me towering over him "I said, leave them alone." I hissed... he was a tough one though "No." He said, quivering a little. I whipped out the knife I was holding and pressed it against his throat, drawing blood, but again he said "No." sounding even more scared. One of his friends that had run off earlier after seeing Misty rugby tackled me and before I knew it the guy who I was threatening had grabbed my knife and was holding it to _my_ throat.

I shouted for Misty to run, she did. I remembered that snow was made of water and I could control water! I threw up my hands and the water flew up behind him and froze his feet to the ground, he exclaimed "What the..." I smiled, kicked his hand grabbed my dagger from midair and said "I come from a freak show." I unwrapped my tail and showed my ears, I growled, turned around, whipped him with my tail and sat back down by the fire, him and his friends trying to get free from the ice that they were encased in. I let them out by melting the ice, drenching them in the process. I whipped them with the wind on their way out. We all had a peaceful night's sleep.

I stayed with Declan and Little Kenny for a while so that I knew nobody was trying to hurt them. I realised that they would be fine. So I left for the next town. I started walking in the opposite direction and then stopped. I shouted "Declan, Little Kenny!" They turned around and ran towards me as I ran towards them, I dug some money out of my pocket "Here," I handed them some of the money "ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY POUNDS!" they shouted, they both gave me a massive hug, I said one last thing to them "Don't spend it all at once, only spend it if you need to, take care of yourself...oh and if anyone called Debbie Hemlock or Alice Burgess asks you to help them, say yes! See you again, bye!" I smiled, hugged them and left with my guitar on my back and Misty at my feet; I pulled up my hood and walked on my way.


	15. Chapter 15

It took me a while to get to the right hotel but when I did get there I asked where the Crepsley's were staying, I said I was a friend coming to stay with them. The man at the desk called their room to make sure I was defiantly telling the truth. He told me where they were and gave me a pass card to get into their room. I went up the elevator to floor 4, strolled along the corridors looking at every door until I found room 258. I swiped the card and walked in. I saw Evra, Darren and another girl, I knew immediately who she was from the books I read, it was Debbie Hemlock. Evra and Darren's heads whipped around and as their eyes met mine they rushed over and shouted "VIX!" They pulled me into massive hugs. Debbie walked over confused. Darren explained "Let me introduce you two," I waved my hand "No need." I held my hand out to Debbie "Hi, I'm Vix," She shook my hand and said "I'm ..." I stopped her "I know, you are Debbie Hemlock." All eyes were on me, "I know stuff." They shrugged it off as I continued to chat about my journey. After a while I whistled for Misty, she was waiting out back, she was going to jump the balconies to get up here. She bounded in through the open window, as soon as she saw Darren she pounced on him and licked him, Darren was gasping for breath "Misty, off, stop, please...MISTY!" she cocked her head to the side and got off Darren she walked to the corner her tail between her legs. Darren smiled sympathetically at her "Sorry girl, come 'ere" He motioned for her to come over, she whined happily as he tickled behind her ears. Debbie looked petrified "What, scared of wolves?" She nodded shakily "Terrified of them," I tutted "Well, you won't like me then," She now just looked confused. Darren spoke up and said "Vix is half wolf, a bit like Evra is half snake." I asked Darren "Can I please relax now?" He sighed, knowing what I meant "Yeah." I nodded and sunk into a chair, unwrapping my tail and taking off my hair band. Debbie almost fainted! I shrugged "What you're fine with a snake boy but not a wolf girl," She stuttered "I'm not afraid of snakes?" I smiled, "its fine, we won't bite." She smiled and relaxed "Maybe," I muttered under my breath, she froze and I laughed.

A few days went by, they were pure bliss, I got to watch T.V again, I ate some of my favourite junk food and we ordered pizza! We watched T.V at night and went out in the day, my 'quirks' were easy to hide but Evra? Not so much. We eventually managed to cover his scales though. Darren spent a lot of time with Debbie and same with me and Evra. I also discovered a new eye colour, pink! My brown eye went pink when I was in love, no not 'love love' but any love, my non-blind eye went pink when Evra did nice thing, it was a brother-sister love between him and me.

One day we were at the apartment when I remembered what I read in the book, I told Evra to change the channel over to the news and he replied with a face stuffed with ice-cream "But I'm watching this!" I repeated "Evra, turn it over, NOW!" He must have seen the look in my eye because he nodded and said "fine," he grabbed the remote and turned up the volume. We watched the screen as a horror was uncovered. Six bodies had been found inside an old abandoned building and were drained of blood. His jaw dropped in horror as the story was unfolded. The news report started again as Darren came in, humming a happy tune to himself. He chatted merrily as we tried to tell him to watch the screen. He ignored us and carried on chatting until finally I gave up, whispered something to Misty. She pounced on Darren and growled and nipped him, he finally started to watch the screen. Horror overtook his face as he watched the screen. After he had seen it Darren said "I bet it was Mr. Crepsley!" He was practically shaking with rage. Evra and Darren got sucked into an argument about Mr. Crepsley. I excused myself and left to go for a walk.

I came back in; the air was thick with thought. I closed the door quietly and gave the sleeping wolf a tickle behind the ears. I broke the silence by saying "So, what are we going to do?" Evra said "We're going to follow him until we find evidence, if we do then..." Darren finished "He dies," I nodded "Fair enough, anyway, why don't we go out and have some fun with Debbie." Darren and Evra nodded "Yeah, sure," They said. We went to Debbie's house and asked if she could come out. Her dad Jesse said that she was at her friend's house. We were walking home back to the hotel but that was boring so I thought I'd try and lighten up the mood a bit. I fell behind so that Darren and Evra were in front. I grabbed some snow and made two snowballs and sent them flying at full force at my targets. Darren spun around and caught it in mid air...damn he was fast! Evra on the other hand got floored.

I laughed so hard I didn't see the snowball, thrown by Darren, hurtling towards me. It hit me in my chest, I got knocked into the wall. I stood back up and made sure there was nobody around. I used my talent to make the snow form into snowballs and made twenty or so fly at Evra and Darren. Evra complained "That's not fair!" Darren smiled and nodded "If you're going to use your powers...then I'm using mine." I shook my head "No," When he ran at me I unwrapped my tail and took off my hair band. "Fine, wanna play, let's play." I ran at him, the surprise knocked him over where I jumped on him and held down his wrists, I laughed and said "I win!" Evra coughed to get my attention "Vix, eye," I groaned "What colour?" He smiled "pink!" he burst out laughing. My cheeks went red as Darren questioned "Why? What does pink mean?" I coughed uncomfortably and got off him "Nothing," I wrapped up my tail, covered my ears and started to walk home.

When we got home it was dark, we wrapped up and grabbed some stuff and went to follow Mr. Crepsley. I was going to follow one way along the streets while Evra was on another street; Darren was going to follow along the rooftops. The night was long and Evra felt the cold a lot. We got phones so that we could communicate easier. Mr. Crepsley just went random places and then headed home. We always had to rush home to get there before Mr. Crepsley.

We did this for a while until one night Mr. Crepsley went into a slaughter house; I knew what was going to happen tonight. Darren told me and Evra to wait outside, so we did. Evra was very cold so I took off my coat to give it to him; I was now wearing nothing on my arms. After a few minutes of silence Evra asked "So what is it with you and Darren?" I blushed a very deep red as I muttered "He is...amazing and I really like him, but he likes Debbie." Evra looked very sad "I really like you," I gasped "What!?" He smiled sweetly "You're kind and smart and funny and strong." I shook my head "Not really," My eye went pink as I looked back up at him, he carried on "You're amazing and I really like you," I sighed "But you'll have Merla," He looked confused "Who?" I smiled "Don't worry." He put his arm around me but I shied away. He looked at me and smiled, I smiled back. His smile turned into a frown "What?" I asked "What's that?" he pointed behind me. When I turned around I saw a purple blur, I groaned "Sorry Evra," He looked at me, I drew a knife and turned to face Murlough, the crazy vampanise.

He went to Evra first and blew a breath of air into Evra's face causing him to pass out. I raised my knife; it glinted in the eerie silver moonlight. Murlough looked at me and chuckled "Puny human going to try and defend herself?" I nodded and ran at Murlough, the knife pointed at his black  
>shrivelled excuse for a heart. He kicked the knife out of my hand with ease. I realised that I was beat and said "Oh well, you can't drink my blood anyway," He stopped and stared "Why not?" I smiled "Because I'm half wolf," I sat down and waited, waited for the sweet feeling of unconsciousness to sweep over me.<p>

I woke up like normal but I felt weird. I opened my eyes and saw...nothing, it was too dark, I heard a little whimper next to me "V...V...Vix," Now I realised I was hanging upside down but my hands were free, they weren't bound. Unlike Evra's. He was hanging up and so tightly bound that I swear those ropes were going to severe his limbs at some point. "Evra," I said, he looked at me "What's happening?" I thought about the books I had read "Murlough has taken us to where he lives at the moment, Darren was trying to stop Mr. Crepsley murdering that chubby man but Mr. Crepsley was trying to stop Murlough kill the guy," Evra puzzled with this for a moment and finally said to me "So you knew all along it was Mr. Crepsley but you didn't tell us!" I looked at him apologetically "Yes," was all I said. Evra said to me angrily "But why!" I replied simply with "It wasn't my destiny." I said nothing more after that but Evra was ticked off. After a while of uncomfortable silence went by I heard footprints. To make my hearing clearer I took my hair band off and wrapped it around my wrist. "So, wolfys awake then?" I growled at him. He then walked in to the room we were in. He was carrying a torch so it was now a lot brighter in here. The walls were stained with what looked like blood and the floor was covered in muddy brown water, in one corner there was a skull. Murlough was 'living on the chubby side of life' and he was wearing a white suit, the bottoms of the trousers were covered in muddy water though. I asked him "Why aren't my hands bound?" He replied in a maniacal voice "I've been watching you and I want to see what you can do," I shook my head "No, why should I show you," he smiled "Because I have these!" he leaped at me with two _massive _knives, before he made contact Evra had screamed "NO!" I looked at Evra and so did Murlough. Murlough looked at me, then at Evra, then back at me. He smiled and said to Evra "You like this puny human, don't you?" Evra looked at me. "You do!" Murlough cried out in joy, "But does she like you?" I looked away from Evra and Murlough, Murlough strolled over and grabbed my chin, and he twisted my head towards Evra so I had to look him in the eye. Murlough stood back and looked at me "She does!" Evra looked at me as I smiled. Murlough laughed "This is going to be fun for Murlough!" I growled at him again. He walked over to Evra scraping his sharp blades together. "Let's have some fun," he growled as he cut Evra down. Evra hit the floor with a massive _THUD! _Murlough looked at me and hissed "Now, you going to use your powers or is snakey going to have to lose a few scales?"

I cried and screamed for Murlough to stop...he never did. Murlough made me watch him do it even if I tried to turn my head away he would threaten me or Evra. He cut off Evra's scales from his shoulder making Evra cry out in pain. My eye went bright red; Murlough just laughed and carried on. When Evra wouldn't do what Murlough wanted he would cut me down and pull my tail, sometimes he would pull it so much that it would bleed at the base and I wouldn't be able to move it. At least I didn't have Misty to worry about, I told her exactly why I would be gone, and she knows the stories as well as I do now. The normally fluffy, silky fur going along my tail is now matted and drips blood.

Evra was passing out a lot of the time and then waking up quivering with fear. He had nightmares all the time now. I always tried to comfort him. I have also provided Evra and me with food. I found a crack in the ceiling which I could grow a vine through, grow food and then send the vine back up. Because I did this without making any contact with the ground it took a big toll on me. To make clean water was harder; I had to get the water off the floor and use a lot of concentration to separate the mud and sewer water from the good water. So when I was done there was hardly any water anyway. Evra always wanted me to have it but I only ever had half and then made him drink the rest. We could only ever do this when Murlough wasn't around otherwise he would think that we weren't suffering enough. One day Murlough went too far though. He threatened Evra by saying "Hmmmmm, what if we make you more like wolfy?" he put the knife up to Evra's left eye and smirked at me. "NO!" I screamed at the top of my voice, he smiled evilly "What will wolfy do to stop me, Hmmmmm?" I closed my eyes and growled "This," I made the vine grow from the crack and undo the ropes around my ankles. I froze the water around Murlough so he couldn't move and made a big wall of fire around Murlough, I pulled Evra out the way and said to him "I love you to," I smiled again and pressed my lips to his. I pulled away and nodded. I walked towards the circle of fire and stepped through the wall of burning flames.

Murlough laughed evilly "I wonder what your friend Darren Shan would think? Hmmmmm" I thought for a moment and made the wall of fire go down and the ice melted around Murlough's feet. I sighed and collapsed, I was so tired from using all that energy, maybe I should just rest...for...a...moment.


	16. Chapter 16

When I woke up I heard another voice, it sounded a lot like Darren's, I turned my head to face him. When he saw that I was alright he smiled and said "Good, you're okay!" I smiled "Just a little tired," I heard Murlough chuckle "Little wolfy should be, she is very powerful." I looked at him, why was he saying this. I decided to ask him why "Why are you saying this." He stood up from where he was kneeling on the floor "This runt," Darren bristled "Has told Murlough that he needs to get out of the tunnels or Vampires will come kill him?" I thought about it for a moment, Darren had a plan; I was going to go a long with it. I said "And?" Murlough chuckled again, that really annoyed me "Murlough might need some defence; he might take wolfy along with him? Hmmmmm" I stated calmly "No, I would kill you at any chance I get." He thought "Well, we might have to break you then, so you learn to obey who is boss." I shook my head "No," Darren decided to stop or conversation there because he said to Murlough "What if I give you Debbie," Evra looked startled "NO!" He shouted. Darren and Evra argued about it for a while before Evra just gave up because he knew he wasn't going to win this one. Darren and Murlough talked about it for a while longer before Murlough cut Darren down. Darren landed on his head! That must have hurt! Murlough dragged Darren out of the tunnel. When I couldn't hear them any more I whispered to Evra, who was still a annoyed that Darren had offered Debbie for us, "Psssst, Evra, they're gone, just hang on a moment and I'll have us down." I made the vine come down through the gap in the ceiling. I undid my own ropes then walked over to Evra and undid his ropes; he had a big pink patch where his scales should be at the top of his arm.

He looked really confused, "What about when they come back, Murlough would kill us if he saw us down?" I smiled the biggest smile I had since we came down to this god forsaken pit. I said to Evra "It was a plan, Debbie's not in trouble, Murlough will die and then Darren is going to come back and get us!" Evra asked me "But how?" I smiled again and explained the whole plan to Evra. By the end of it Evra had the same goofy smile on his face that I did. "Hungry?" I said but I knew I didn't even have to ask because I was starving and I always ate less than him. He nodded his head and licked his lips. I put my hands on the ground and made A LOT of fruits grow. We walked around and picked out what we wanted and stuffed it in out face. We really were hungry. After our feast I pulled all of the water out of the plants so we had a lot of water to drink. We gulped it down like it was the most delicious drink ever. We waited and waited for Darren to come but we got bored. We were sitting in uncomfortable silence when Evra said "Um...Do you wanna...um..." I nodded and leaned in for a kiss. As soon as our lips made contact we heard coughing, like the kind you do to show someone your there. We broke apart and looked at the doorway of the tunnel and standing there was none other than Mr. Crepsley! We got up and brushed ourselves off before following Mr. Crepsley up to the surface. When we got up there it was night but it seemed as bright as day to me and Evra. We saw Darren sitting glumly by the gutter. I walked over and jokingly said to him "I hope you decorated that tree well." He smiled and nodded "Thanks." He said back. We walked to the hotel. We were all going to go in but then we realised that mine and Evra's clothes were streaked with blood. I went to the back of the hotel and whistled for Misty. She came bounding out the window like she hasn't seen me in years! She jumped on me and licked my face. Mr. Crepsley and Darren checked out of the hotel. We started walking back to the cirque.

Everyone was very happy to see us. Over the next few weeks I helped the cooks grow fruit and vegetables. My favourite elements to control were defiantly fire and water. I remembered watching a T.V show where people could also control the elements. On the T.V show they could heal using water. I tried and tried until one night it worked! I could now heal using water! Because of this I also worked shifts in the medical trailer. So basically I did chores, helped the cooks, helped out the medics and had a spot in the show.

I had been working on a drawing for a few weeks; I needed to show Mr. Crepsley. I walked over to his trailer and knocked on the door. I waited for a few moments before the door swung open with Mr. Crepsley in the doorway. I looked at him solemnly before saying "I need to show you something." He looked me over and nodded. I walked in and sat on the couch which was laid against one of the walls. I opened my sketch book and showed him the drawing I was working on. He gasped and went a deathly shade of white. He said nothing so I did "Mr. Crepsley, this is Arra Sails. But you already knew that." He nodded and regained his composure "Yes, but how do you know who she is?" I shook my head and said "I know of your past, present and future. I also know of her past present and future. I have seen her death." He shook his head in disbelief, "Prove it!" I sighed. I remembered reading books about him as well. I said to him "Once you went on a ship with a young girl, they found out you were a vampire and killed her when she tried to protect you. They hung her from the mast and you killed them all." I said in a solemn tone. He collapsed at the thought of the memory, "What else do you know?" I shuffled next to him and said quietly "I know Tanish Eul, the French women Alicia and...Wester Flack." I looked him in the eye and said "I know it all." He nodded and said "I believe you, that means you know of my death. Correct." I nodded. He said "Can you tell me?" I shook my head and said "It's not my Destiny." With that I turned and left. I felt really bad about telling him that but I had to, I don't know why, I just did.

I also knew more about Misty now. She could sense what emotion I was feeling and me with her, even if we weren't near each other. She also told me that she was a Mackenzie Tundra Wolf. We had a lot of fun together, especially during the show.


	17. Chapter 17

It's been six years since we came back from our 'trip'. I had done my jobs and I only preformed every other week. One day I came back from helping out in the medical trailer where I found Darren packing a bag, I knew what was going on but I had to ask anyway. "Watcha doing?" he didn't stop running around but he said "Me and Mr. Crepsley are going to vampire mountain for council, something to do with presenting me?" I nodded and said "Can I come?" Darren stopped straight away and said "After what happened last time you went on a 'trip' with me?" I nodded, "Yup!" I said. He rushed out of the tent and said "Let me go and ask Mr. Crepsley?" I nodded and sat down on my hammock. After a few minutes Darren rushed back in panting "He...said...yes." He started to rush around packing again. I was already done packing because again, I only had my duffel bag full of stuff, he asked Evra what to bring, Evra looked way older than me and Darren now even though I was the same age as Evra. Six years had gone past but me and Darren looked a year older, for some reason I aged at the same rate as a half vampire but I don't know why. Because of this Evra and I had broken up after a few years, plus I never forgot that he would meet Merla! Darren asked questions like "What should I bring? Do I need this? What about this?" At one point Darren asked a question and none other than Mr. Tiny walked in, grinning evilly! We had an awkward conversation with Mr. Tiny that ended in us going to get Mr. Crepsley. Mr. Crepsley was not happy at all about us waking him up before a long journey. We brought Mr. Crepsley to our tent where he was talking to Evra. Evra looked absolutely terrified! Mr. Tiny asked us to bring two little people with us. There was a new addition to the cirque and a little person that everyone called lefty because he limped on one leg. His real name was Harkat Mulds except I wouldn't tell anyone that I knew. I sometimes sent mental mind messages to Harkat so he knew that I knew. Mr. Tiny finished his conversation with us and left with a bow. We bowed back and left the tent to go and do some more chores for others.

We left that night; I gave Evra a goodbye hug. I left my guitar there with him to be safe. Misty was going to come with us because I thought that it would be good for her to meet other wolves and I need someone to talk to. We started walking, the vampires were faster than me and the little people but we kept going anyway. I had some leggings and baggy trousers on my legs and two pairs of socks and some trainers. I had two vest tops on and a very thick jumper. We walked during nightfall and slept throughout the day. Darren was not comfy on the floor but I didn't mind it really. After a few days we had not gotten to snow or cold yet but it was barren and no humans would be even visiting here. There were hardly any animals out here apart from the tough ones that could just about survive. There were some deer and bears and hardly any wolves, the wolves were mean and always growling at us so we just avoided them. I hoped that not all wolves were like this! We had been travelling for about a month when Darren asked how long until we got there which Mr. Crepsley replied with "We are some way off yet." He laughed and carried on, Darren groaning and trudging behind. Darren got jealous of the fact that I had shoes and he didn't. Vampires weren't allowed to wear shoes on the trip to Vampire Mountain. To make him feel better I went every other night without shoes on so that both our feet got cut to ribbons. I grew plants along the way that Mr. Crepsley got healing sap from and I got water from to also help with healing. Darren and I moaned about how we couldn't flit because that's another stupid rule of theirs! Mr. Crepsley said "It is better to lose one's life than one's pride." I agreed about pride and nobility but when Mr. Crepsley explained it Darren just puffed and grumbled a bit before he calmed down.

We rested in way stations where I helped light a fire and catch some food. I grew plants on the way but I needed to save my energy for walking. We were in a way station when Darren and Mr. Crepsley were whispering because they thought I was asleep but I had woken up about ten minutes before. They were talking about how they would hit snow drifts before the week is over then I heard Darren say "But what about Vix, she is only human." I felt Mr. Crepsley's gave fall on me. Mr. Crepsley said "Aye, but she is strong and she has actually surprised me over these last few weeks, she would make an excellent vampire," I smiled "But," he continued, I frowned "She is stubborn and would never refuse a challenge, she actually reminds me of a vampiress named Arra Sails." I smiled again, I really couldn't wait to meet Arra. The little people walked in at that moment carrying a fox. Mr. Crepsley said to Darren "Go wake her." He nodded and walked over to me. He shook me awake. I sat up, pretended to yawn, rubbed my eyes, stood up, grabbed my bag and walked out the cave shouting back "You coming?!" Throughout the next few hours we heard the little people munching on their fox. Misty loved the trip so much that once she actually barked herself to sleep.

When we weren't in a way station Darren and Mr. Crepsley slept under a cloth. Every now and then I would make a super comfy tent for myself and Misty by making giant sheets of rock come out the ground and make a makeshift tent. I would then grow vines out of the ground and set them on fire. It would be very comfy. A few nights after we left our previous way station we ran into snow. I am incredibly glad at times like this that I don't feel the cold, Darren on the other hand couldn't look less comfortable! The little people also didn't look like they felt the cold either. We travelled like this for a few weeks before hitting another way station. Darren and Mr. Crepsley started climbing; my sense of smell was at least five times better than theirs. I stopped at the base of the small mountain that the way station had been cut into. I had smelt blood, not just any blood but vampire blood. They didn't understand why I had stopped but after three weeks of the comfy feel of sleeping on rock I didn't think they cared. I waited for a few minutes before I climbed up. I walked up and sat on the floor. Mr. Crepsley mumbled "its vampire blood." I looked at him and said "I know, I could smell it from down there." I pointed down the side of the mountain. I looked at the ruined coffins and the pool of red blood on the floor. I tucked into a ball and rested my head on my knees. I heard Darren talking, then Mr. Crepsley attacking something then someone new hissing a threat, and then apologising. Not even turning around I grumbled "Oh, hey Gavner." He sighed and said "Seriously! What does it take to surprise her?" Darren rolled his eyes "A lot!" He said, we all laughed. In all this Gavner hadn't even noticed the carnage in the way station. We chatted some more about it deciding what we were going to do. Gavner guessed it was a bear or a few of them. Gavner then mused aloud; maybe it was vampire hunters he thought. I shook my head to that and said "Maybe it's vampanise?" Gavner shook his head "No, why would vampanise be here, during council, with all the vampires travelling to the mountain, its ridiculous!" I sighed, stubborn vampires. I added under my breath "Less ridiculous than you would think!"

I was down at the stream for no particular reason when I heard Darren come up behind me. I turned to him and smiled "Hey." I said, he just smiled and nodded back, he was carrying canteens. I controlled the water to make it stream into the canteen so that he didn't end up freezing his fingers off in the stream. As we finished filling the second canteen I smelt something in the air. I looked across to the other side of the stream and saw a wolf! Darren was terrified because he thought that the wolf would...kill him or something. He loved Misty, but Misty had known him since she was a cub.

The wolf jumped over from the other side of the river and jumped on Darren. It licked him! Darren looked surprised that the wolf didn't try to eat him. I smiled and looked at the wolf. Misty and the wolf sniffed each other's noses and then licked each other. I said to the wolf "Hi, I'm Vix and this is Darren." The wolf nodded and said "Hi," Two other she-wolves joined us as well as a cub. We walked back to go and see Mr. Crepsley and Gavner. We went back to them but they were asleep. Gavner was snoring louder than usual. Darren had named the adult wolf streak because he had a streak of dark fur running down his stomach. Darren slept under a blanket with the wolves on top of him, he looked in complete bliss. I led down and decided to sleep for a while as well.

Darren and I were woken up by angry growling. I sat up and saw that the wolves were around Darren's makeshift bed. The little people were closing in on the wolves, they looked like they were going to try and eat the wolves! Darren and I both screamed at the top of our voices "STOP!" Mr. Crepsley and Gavner sat bolt upright, immediately awake. The little people showed that they were hungry and were going to eat the wolves. Darren told the little people that the wolves were his friends. The little people moved away after 'lefty' had told the other one not to, mentally. I sent a mental mind message to 'lefty' "Thank you Harkat." He nodded at me and left to go and eat rats with the other little person. Mr. Crepsley had a conversation about wolves with Darren while I actually had a conversation with wolves. I talked to the wolves about where we had been and where they thought the best hunting ground was and where they would be going. The whole time I was talking with the wolves, in their language, Gavner was watching intently the whole time. After I finished speaking with the wolves Gavner asked "Can you talk to wolves because you are part wolf?" I shook my head and answered "No, I can talk to all animals, I can only speak certain languages but otherwise animals normally understand me if I speak normal English." He nodded and didn't ask any more questions. After our conversations were over all of the wolves left including Misty. I guessed that they were going to hunt. I told Darren where I was going. Then I went to go and hunt with the wolves!

I unwrapped my tail and ears for better hearing and balance. Misty and I hid behind a bush while the cub was up a tree. The two she-wolves were behind another bush and Streak was out in the open. About an hour later Streak spotted a large deer and nodded towards it. He ran to the deer and herded it towards us. The two she-wolves jumped out of the bush and snarled menacingly while Misty and I stayed quiet and hidden. After a few minutes of prancing around the deer bolted towards us. We jumped out from our hiding place and pounced on the deer. The wolves dug their teeth in as I stuck my knife in its stomach. I twisted the knife and felt the last breath of life slip away from the deer. We tried to catch another deer but it got away. We walked back to the way station. When we got there the moon was peeking out from behind the snow covered mountain in the distance. We walked from the trees into the way station. I made as fire and cooked the deer we caught. Mr. Crepsley asked me "So, only one?" I nodded "One got away...but you should always respect the ones that get away." He nodded and said hiding a grin "You speak like a true vampire." I smiled and said "Thank you." I looked around the way station, I don't know why, I felt like I was looking for someone. The smell of cooked meat brought me back to my senses. My mouth was watering as I waited for the meat to cool down. When it was cooled I bit down into the juicy goodness. Heaven.


	18. Chapter 18

One star-speckled night we came to a thick patch of brambles. The thorns were thick and sharp and if they could pierce the skin of the two full vampires then if I were to walk through this patch I would be ripped to ribbons. Gavner and Mr. Crepsley were deciding how to go on, they suggested scaling the mountain but Darren and I wouldn't be able to make it. While they were chatting, I took off some of my clothes, so I still had a vest top and leggings on. They just paused and looked at me, I rolled my eyes and said "You guys can stand here and babble all night, but I'm going through." With that I turned around and started to walk through the thick thorns. I heard shuffling behind me; I guess they decided to join me. The wolves and I managed to glide through the patch with ease; I was quite small so that was easy. I smirked as I heard yelping behind me as Darren got poked with thorns and speckled with blood. The little people walked behind me and in front of the vampires. I felt sorry for them. We were about half way through when I stopped abruptly. Gavner walked into me, squishing the little people, and asked "Why did you stop?" I sniffed the air "Can you smell it?" I asked, he sniffed the air and shook his head, I kept walking towards the scent that my nose had picked up. I walked over to a red patch, the blood was dry but the sent did not match that of anything I had ever smelt before. It was familiar, I had only ever seen vampanise, I had never smelt their blood before. The vampire's faces went pale, more than usual, as they caught the scent of the blood. The wolves never ceased their throaty growls as the vampires talked about it. They had decided to go and scope the area. Mr. Crepsley, Gavner and Streak went as the rest of us stayed in the cave. We hunted some small animals in the forest. The squirrels were far away and very hard to catch. As a vampire Darren was not allowed to use long range weapons but maybe I should learn. I decided to learn to use a bow and arrow.

I snapped branches off of the spruce trees around our camp. I Walked back and got out my knife. Darren was still trying to catch squirrels. I carved out the wooden part of a bow. For the string I pulled some string out of my jumper and used that. I carved the body of an arrow out of other branches. I controlled the rock in the ground and made it into an arrow head. I caught birds by using my talents and plucked their feathers to make the end of the arrow. Once I had made them I used some of the deer skin blanket to make a pouch for the arrows to go on my back. I decided to see how good my aim was to start with by marking a spot on a tree. I ran away from the tree, put an arrow on the string, aimed for the mark and fired. I shot the mark! I ran over to the tree to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me, I guess I've always been a good shot but not this good, maybe destiny was meddling...again! I pulled the arrow out of the tree and shot again. I got it right in the middle of the mark! When Darren came back I decided to show him. The only thing he could say was "Wow..." I smiled and shot a bird form the sky. We cooked the four squirrels and one bird. Darren went out and gathered some roots and berries. We made a meal out of it all. It was actually very nice. Gavner and Mr. Crepsley had come back looking very glum but I have no idea why because they found nothing. But Mr. Crepsley always looked glum. After Darren had eaten he went to go and play with Rudi, that is what he named the little wolf cub. He went off into the forest.

It was very awkward, me and the vampires, I had no idea what to say. Luckily Gavner broke the silence by saying "Watcha got there?" he pointed towards the bow and pouch of arrows. I didn't say anything; I just grabbed the bow and one arrow and went out into the open. I stood there completely motionless for about a minute before a bird flew across the sky. In one swift movement I had shot the bird right through the middle, it landed in the snow with a small _thump. _I grabbed the impaled bird and brought it over to Gavner, who had his jaw dropped in awe. I smiled and shrugged "Looks like I'm a good shot." I put the bow around my torso and tied the pouch of arrows to my belt. Mr. Crepsley just looked at me, I think it was disappointment on his face, then I remembered the vampire rules, I eased him by saying "I won't use it all the time, striking the enemy from afar is disrespectful." He smiled, which was rare, and said "You speak more like a vampire every day." I smiled back and nodded my thanks. I went deathly still all of a sudden; I took off my hair band as my ears twitched towards the forest. "What is wro," I put up my hand and hissed "Be quiet." I got up and sprinted as fast as possible towards the sound of a bear.

I took off my bow and grabbed an arrow. When I came to the clearing I saw a squished little person, a massive bear, the wolves were everywhere and Darren with his back against the ground, defenceless at the mercy of the bear. I aimed the arrow at the bear; I needed to buy Darren some time. I released the arrow from my grip. It flew towards the bear and pierced the skin in its back. The bear turned around, it's fiery gaze burned away at me. It ran towards me baring its razor sharp teeth. I pulled a knife from my belt and held it up defensively. As I stood with my knife in hand Darren had pulled a bone from the squished little person and had stabbed it into the bear's neck. Darren collapsed onto the bear's stomach. I melted some of the snow and concentrated, it glowed a florescent blue. I put it onto Darren's shoulder; his shirt was ripped and stained with blood. I healed his shoulder and fell next to him, healing was even more tiring than controlling the elements

We got up and went over to the little person, Darren thanked him and called him 'lefty' then the little person spoke to us. "Name...not lefty. Name ...Harkat...Harkat Mulds." Darren's jaw dropped as Harkat added on the end "Vix...knows." Darren's gaze turned to me as he said "Really?" I nodded and said to Harkat "Are you alright, I can fix that up if you want?" He looked at his arm and saw a green liquid oozing out, that was his blood, it was green. He shook his head and said "No... Thank you...you are...already...tired...from healing...Darren." I nodded my thanks, I was really tired.

We carried on our journey, it turned out that the bear was crazy from the blood of a vampanise who had been buried a little farther off. We got to the mountain a few days later. Darren was sad to part with the wolves. Misty was very sad when they left. I said to her in her language so that the vampires couldn't understand "Go with them, I'll see you soon, by the way, when Darren comes, take care of him." She looked confused for a moment, then recalled the story I told her, she nodded and left to go live with the wolves for a while. We had to walk through many, many tunnels to get to where we needed to. We went to the two guards on duty had to ask who we were. Mr. Crepsley introduced himself and so did Gavner, they were let in, Darren and Harkat introduced themselves and they got let in, then it was my turn. "I am..." the vampires had never heard my full name "Victoria Hale, come to seek council." Darren smiled and whispered to me "I like your name." I nodded and whispered back "Thanks," The guard continued to say "Larten Crepsley is recognised by the gate, and Gavner purl is recognised, but these three," he pointed his spear at us. I growled and said "Excuse me, but I would like to get through my stay here without a new hole in my stomach." I put my hand on the spear and pushed it away from me. "Feisty little vampiress she is," he sneered, I looked up at him as I said "I'm human." He gasped and said "How did a human make the journey?" I shrugged as I said "I have my ways." He nodded and talked to Harkat and Darren. Once he had finished his talk with us he said "Victoria Hale is recognised by the gate, Darren Shan is recognised by the gate and the little person known as Harkat Mulds is recognised by the gate. The halls are open to you. Enter and fare well." We walked through the large wooden gate into Vampire Mountain.

We walked to one of the many halls. We ate some of the food there. Darren and Harkat had a chat but I didn't hear most of it because I was too busy shoving warm broth soaked bread down my throat. Seba, the quarter master, Mr. Crepsley's old master, came to sit down at the table. Mr. Crepsley caught up with Seba and Darren had a chat with him as well. Then Seba decided to talk to me "And who is this young vampiress?" I sighed and rolled my eyes as I said "Once again, I am not a vampiress, I'm human!" Seba cocked his head to the side in confusion; he sniffed the air "You smell a lot like a wolf." I nodded and said "Well I am half wolf, and do vampires know anything about subtlety?" He still looked confused. I sighed and unwrapped my tail and pulled my hair band off my head. Suddenly all eyes in the hall were on me. I looked around the hall and said loudly "What! Never seen a half-human half-wolf in the middle of Vampire Mountain?" I turned back around and was greeted with smirks from the whole table. "What!" I said through a mouthful of bread. Darren started to fall asleep in his bat broth. Seba said that he would find us rooms. But then he remembered that there were hardly any rooms available so Harkat, Darren and I would have to share a room. We agreed and went to go to our rooms. Our spirits fell when we saw the coffins in our room. Seba laughed and said that he would bring us hammocks the next day. Seba went to leave but Mr. Crepsley told Darren to go and get Madam Octa. She had been travelling with us. Seba had a look of awe and love on his face when he saw the multi-coloured spider. He controlled her by whistling. Mr. Crepsley said to Seba "Vix can control her by just talking to her as well. She can talk to all animals." Seba looked at me and said "You keep surprising me." I smiled and said to Madam Octa in her language, which sounded like little chirps and random sounds, "Come here, you can sit on my neck if you want but don't bite me." She crawled off of Seba and jumped onto my neck, where she nestled down and relaxed. Seba looked like he had just seen the most amazing thing ever. I picked up Madam Octa and put her back in her cage. I went back into my room and tried to get some sleep.

We went to go and have breakfast in the hall, Darren took a bathroom break and I said to Gavner "I'm going to keep going." Gavner said back "Do you know where you're going?" I grinned "No, but I can smell the bat broth from here." He smiled and waved a goodbye.

I got to the hall and randomly sat down on a table with a load of random vampires, they were raving and ranting about how many fights they had been in. After a while Darren, Harkat, Gavner and Mr. Crepsley joined me, Seba joined a few minutes later. Darren and Seba talked about age. Seba asked me "So, how old are you?" I smiled and said "Same age as Darren." He once again looked confused so I cleared it up for him "I age at the same rate as a half vampire." He nodded and said "The more I get to know you, the weirder you get." I nodded. Gavner left with Harkat shortly after our conversation, something about taking Harkat's message to the princes. I wasn't there when Harkat talked about his message but I knew what it was from the books; it was 'the night of the lord of the vampanise is at hand' or something like that.

After we had finished we went to go and shower. My tail was very dirty and matted; I really need to comb it out as well. We walked down the corridors covered with a glowing moss called luminous lichen. We finally came to a massive hall with waterfalls. I took off the top layer of clothes so that I was wearing a vest top and leggings. Mr. Crepsley jumped under the waterfall. Then he got out. Darren went next; he jumped under and shouted a few _very _rude words. He jumped out and said to me through chattering teeth "B...b...be careful its c," before he finished I jumped under the spray. Darren looked at me and said "How are you not feeling how cold that is?" I said with a smirk "I'm using my talents to warm it just before the water hits me." He looked like he didn't believe me so I made a bubble of warm water burst above him. He loved that and said "You're right, that is better." I smiled and jumped out. I dried myself by dragging the water off of me. I quickly tied my hair back and shoved on my jumper and leggings. I grabbed my belt with knives and tied it around my waist. I put my bow around my torso and tied my arrow pouch to my belt as well.

When we got back to our rooms there was a young-looking vampire tying up hammocks, we thanked him for doing this at such a busy time. It was busy all around the mountain because Harkat's message had spread. He offered to get the vampires some new clothes; I had all my belongings with me so I didn't need to go. I waited and drew some pictures in my sketch pad so I wouldn't get bored. I went to go and find Darren because I was getting so bored I resulted to counting the scratches on the wall. I followed Darren's scent, it led me to a small room with clothes everywhere, it reminded me of Truska's tent. When I got there Darren was putting on some shoes. I sat down and complained "I'm so bored!" Then I turned to Mr. Crepsley and said "Please, please, please can we go to the halls of game and go kick some, ""VIX! That is not the attitude you should have." Mr. Crepsley said to me. Suddenly in the doorway there was a vampire with blonde hair and three marks on his left cheek. It was Kurda Smahlt. This was in the books, Kurda was a traitor, he was going to kill the vampire princes and sneak vampanise into the hall of princes. I excused myself and left to go have some fun or at least not be bored.


	19. Chapter 19

We had a relaxed few days; Harkat however was questioned wherever he went. One day Kurda took Darren on a tour of the mountain. He came over and asked. I was eating some bat broth. To answer his question I just growled "No." and then left. Mr. Crepsley was confused by my behaviour towards Kurda, everyone was mean to him but never this mean and I was normally kind and spritely towards everyone. I had wanted to go to the halls of sport to see Arra Sails the vampiress and Vanez Blane the one-eyed game master. I wanted to learn about how his one eye would affect his fighting and how I could learn to deal with it.

I walked towards the sound of fighting vampires. I walked into a massive hall. There were mats and rings everywhere. I saw a vampire in the back of the hall, he had one eye. I ran over to him and said "Vanez?" He looked at me and saw my one blind, scared, grey and white eye. He smiled and said "Who are you?" I smiled back and said to him "I'm Vix, I was looking for the bars, Arra Sails, I wish to watch her fighting technique." He pointed over to the right side of the hall "Arra is over there, oh and word of advice, if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't look her in the eye." I nodded my thanks and ran off. I walked over to the bars that Arra was fighting on. She was really good. She didn't become over confident if she was winning, like her opponents. She kept her blows short but powerful and aimed for the legs, she rarely took a head shot. She had finished off her sixth opponent in an hour. She hopped off the bars and pointed her staff at me "So you're a newbie, wanna come test yourself on the bars." I nodded and slipped my shoes off. I hopped up on the bars and got given a staff. Before the match started Vanez walked over and said to Arra "Careful, go easy on her, she is blind in one eye." Before Arra had chance to reply I said "NO! I don't need any help." Vanez nodded and said to me "Well, at least you're a vampire." I shook my head "No, I'm human." Arra and Vanez blinked in confusion "Show me your fingertips," He said to me. "I hopped down from the bars and showed him my hands. He examined them before saying to Arra "She is human." I heard gasps around me. I hopped back onto the bars with my staff. Arra smiled and said "You got guts," I smiled back and made the first blow of the match.

I landed a short jab on her left knee. It didn't do much; I had no experience with a staff, whereas Arra has had years. She wacked my left shoulder and wow did it hurt. Before I could recover she hit my staff out of my hand, it landed under the next bar over "Give up yet?" She sneered; I smiled and said "Never." I jumped off the bar but before I hit the floor I hooked my legs around the bar so I was hanging off the bar upside down! I shuffled along the underside of the bar while she tried hitting my hands to knock me off. I picked up my staff and swung back round behind Arra. I hit her on the head, hard. She screamed in pain and hit at me blindly, I dodged most of them but she just happened to hit my tail, which was under my jumper. This time I screamed in pain. I noticed that almost everyone in the hall was watching us, and Darren and Kurda were watching as well. I looked at Darren and smiled. I got back up and unwrapped my tail, it hurt too much to keep it wrapped up. I heard gasps all around us. I took that one moment of Arra's confusion and wacked the back of her knees. She went down but not off the bars. She knocked me off the bars by swinging her leg round under my feet. I hit the floor with a _thud! _I sat up and said to Arra "As soon as I heal, it's a rematch." I heard cheering all around me.

I asked the vampires around me "Someone bring me a bowl of water." Someone did and brought back about a minute later. I made the water come out of the bowl in a bubble, I concentrated so that it glowed a beautiful blue colour, I put it on my arm and tail, the vampires watched in mesmerisation as I healed myself. My arm healed so that I had a scar there and it was a little sore but that didn't matter. My tail still hurt after but the bones weren't broken so that was good. Arra hopped down and she did the unimaginable, she shook my hand, she only did that with people she greatly respected. I shook her hand as she said to me "You faced me even though you were human, you didn't give up, you played tactfully, and you fought like a vampire." I smiled in thanks and nodded to her. My smile left as I realised her leg was bleeding from where I hit her, I said to her "Do you want me to heal that?" I gestured to her leg, she looked down and said "Ok," I pulled the water off of my arm and tail and moved it towards her leg. She flinched as the cold water stung her wound. When it was on her leg, I concentrated and the water glowed and went bright blue. She watched in mesmerisation as her pain quickly abated. When I finished I put the water back in bowl and thanked the vampire who brought it. She smiled at me gratefully and said "Thank you," She then looked curiously at my bow and said "What's that?" I smiled and said "Oh, I made it on the way here." I looked around and saw a vampire with a small piece of meat. I walked over to him and said "Stand over there." I pointed to the other side of the hall. He walked to the other side of the hall and shouted "What now?!" I shouted back "Hold up that piece of meat." He held up the 5cm piece of meat. I took an arrow from my pouch and put it on the string of my bow. I aimed, I fired. The arrow sailed through the air and hit the meat right through the middle. Everyone was silent, and then everyone cheered. I walked over to where the meat was pinned to the wall. I pulled out the arrow and pulled off the meat. I held out my finger and a flame appeared on the end of my finger. I held the meat over the flame and cooked it. I ate the meat as vampires cheered. I walked back over to the bars as everything went back to normal though I heard mutterings about me, and finally the good kind! Darren had a fight with Arra on the bars. To which half way through Kurda pulled me to the side. He whispered to me "Seriously, why don't you like me!" I narrowed my eyes as I sneered "Your nose is five times stronger than a human's right?" He nodded "And my nose is ten times stronger than yours," He narrowed his eyes in confusion as I said "I don't know why you're sneaking _them _under the mountain but I don't agree with it." He gasped as he realised that I knew. He said "They'll kill me for this!" I growled and said "I know, that's why I want to tell them you_ traitor but_ it is not my Destiny to." I heard a voice in my head say "you handled that well." I knew immediately that it was Destiny. Kurda nodded and left, my icy glare didn't leave him until he left the hall with Darren. Darren was passed out though, Arra knocked him unconscious.

The next night Darren was still sleeping so I had an entire night to kill. I went to the gaming halls because I loved it there. Vanez and I had become fast friends and the same with Arra. I walked into the hall and straight away saw Arra knocking someone off the bar. I cheered and shouted "Yes! Arra!" Everyone looked at me and straight away shouted "Vix!" I waved to everyone. The night went quickly; I endured more losses than wins. I went back to the room and climbed into my hammock. Darren was awake the next day so we went down to breakfast where I asked for some water, bread and bat broth. I tried to heal him but the bruises were BIG so I eased the pain but the bruises stayed. The day went by like normal, I saw Kurda a lot. The next day it was time for Darren to be presented to the princes, he was so nervous that he actually almost chewed his fingernail off!

Harkat and I had to wait outside; official vampire business was boring anyway! Harkat and I decided to go and explore the mountain a little. We just walked random ways until we got somewhere we didn't know. We explored but it was kind of boring. We went to the hall of Kheldon Lurt to have some food. When we got there we sat down at a table, the hall wasn't packed full of vampires like it normally was. When I got there a vampire looked in my direction and said to his friends "That's the girl," They walked over, I looked over at Harkat who was grinning suspiciously, I narrowed my eyes at him and turned back to the vampire. The vampire said to his friends "This is the girl who can make fire!" I looked at him "Please show us!" he pleaded. I nodded and held out my palm. A flame appeared in the middle of my palm, they cheered me on as I continued to make fire balls and juggle them around before finally throwing them up into the air where they disappeared completely. The vampires walked back to their table and continued joking around. I looked over at Harkat again whose grin was even bigger than before. He said to me "Looks...Like your...famous...now?" I looked at him and said "I swear I will set you on fire." We laughed until I added "I'm serious."

We walked back to the hall of princes to find Darren, Gavner, Kurda and Arra walking out all looking solemn-faced. I looked at Mr. Crepsley and said "Look me in the eyes." He did, I groaned and said "The trials." Mr. Crepsley nodded and said "Yes, the trials."


	20. Chapter 20

We were sitting at a table, nobody had spoken. It had been four hours since Darren had been judged in the hall of princes. The cavern we were sitting in was empty; there was that one guy at the bar that tried to make a move on Arra. Needless to say he will be in a cast for a few...okay, forever. Darren knew nothing about the trials whereas I knew too much. Kurda and Gavner were muttering about the trials, they were trying to find any loopholes to exploit or any old rules that they could use. Harkat had been spending all his time in the hall of princes. He went a few days at a time without leaving that hall! Harkat was with us at the table though. Kurda and Gavner told Darren more about the trials. The more Darren learnt the more he hated the idea of the trials. Talk moved on to the festival of the undead. Where almost every vampire gathered in the mountain to fight and meet up. We found a rule we could exploit, it was the preparation period so that basically Darren had forty-eight hours to prepare and train. We finished our grim conversation we went back to our room to get some sleep.

Darren couldn't get to sleep at all whereas I was exhausted, I was so tired! "Vix?" Darren asked me "Yeah?" I answered groggily. "You know what my first trial is going to be? Don't you?" I looked at him from my hammock over the other side of the room "Yes, why?" He asked me "Tell me?" I shook my head and led back down. "At least give me a hint?" I complained. I sighed "Let's just hope you can swim." I went to sleep as he puzzled over what I had said.

The next day, or should I say night, it was time for Darren to pick his first trial. I was allowed in this time because I was a close friend and I was now trusted. They said I was a human of 'good-standing' or something like that. We sat down on seats carved out of stone. Darren went on to the platform. Mr. Crepsley went to go and follow him when Vanez put his hand on Mr. Crepsley's shoulder. "I know you were going to but should I be Darren's tutor?" Mr. Crepsley nodded and took the seat next to me. Darren and Vanez stepped onto the platform. They did a load of vampire mumbo jumbo. Finally a bag of stones were bought out. Darren reached into the bag. "I wonder what he is going to get." Mr. Crepsley said to me. I smiled and said "The aquatic maze." Mr. Crepsley looked at me confused. One of the guards called out to the rest of the hall "Number 11! The aquatic maze!" Mr. Crepsley looked at me again and said "H...h...how did you know," I shrugged and said "I can't say." We walked out of the hall of princes and then to the gaming halls where Darren would start his training. Darren wasn't a very strong swimmer so I got asked to help him for an hour. I had to take off my jumper, so everybody saw the markings that covered my body. They gasped so I looked at them and said "Well, we need to get going so..." I pointed to the tank and jumped in. The water was cold so not to tire us out. I asked Darren to go under the water as long as possible. He stayed under for three minutes before coming back up. I made him go under and back up until he could stay under for six or seven minutes at a time. Next I worked on his strength. I used my talents to make a sort of current for him to swim against. He did pretty well in this aspect. Once we had finished training I was quite hungry so I dried myself off and left to go and get a bite to eat. I got to the hall and got what I normally had, water, bread and bat broth. The bread was quite hard so if you had bread then you needed something to soak it in. Some of my bruises were still there from my fight with Arra so I spent most my time, and water, healing my arm.

When I got tired I went back to the room and found Darren trying to get to sleep. I whispered "How'd training go?" He groaned "I'm gonna die." I laughed and said "Just get some sleep." We both went to sleep. When Darren woke up he felt great. When he told me this I laughed and said "Changed your mind about dyeing then?" He nodded and raced off to find Vanez. I wondered around the mountain and caught up with other vampires. I decided to go and train. I walked into a relatively small room with training dummies and weapons hanging from all the walls, it was completely empty. I chose a dummy and slashed at it with my knife. I did no real damage to the dummy. Kurda walked in the room and said "Hi," At the sound of his voice my arm swiped at the dummy, beheading it. I turned around with fiery eyes, Kurda's jaw was dropped. I growled "What?" He gulped and stuttered "How did you know about _them_?" I shrugged and said "I know all," which was a massive lie. He said again "You won't tell anyone will you? They would kill me for this." I shook my head and said "That's why I want to tell someone, I don't know what your aim is, but it won't work, it is not my destiny to tell anyone. Your death is near Kurda Smahlt." With that I walked out of the room and went back to my hammock to think over why I had just said that.

It was time for Darren's trial; I think I was more scared than him! We walked to a big cavern with a rock square in the middle. Darren got taken inside the square, the trial began. We all watched the square, even though we couldn't see inside. After some time had gone past Mr. Crepsley turned to me and said "Can you not see using the water inside, can you try to see if he's alright?" I nodded and walked up to the square, too aware of everyone's eyes glued on my back. I sat down and put my hand on the rock wall. I concentrated and closed my eyes for a few seconds before standing up, brushing myself off and walking to Mr. Crepsley. I whispered to him "Darren's panicking, he's wasting his air, and there is no more air left." He sighed. The cavern was silent for a few more minutes before suddenly there was a massive WHOOSH, all the water rushed out of the square. Darren got swept along with the water coughing and spluttering.

I ran over and hugged him. He just smiled and said "Piece of cake." I laughed and said back to him "We don't have cake, but we do have bat broth." He licked his lips as we ran to the hall of Kheldon Lurt and ate some bat broth, bread and some slabs of meat.

The next trial was the path of needles so I couldn't really help with that. He trained and passed the trial in over three times as long as it takes others, but hey you know what they say 'safely but surely'.

After the trial we went to go and have a shower. Darren asked me to warm up the water but I said that the hot water would help the itching. By itching I mean that his hands and arms and legs were cut to shreds. They were itching and every time he moved he reopened some of the cuts. While we were in the shower, word came that Darren had an extra three days because all the vampires would be arriving soon so no official vampire business stuff could go on, that meant that Darren's trials were put on hold. Darren asked Vanez if he would be alright to fight with one eye, Vanez just said that there would only be a few things he can't do, and that I smiled at because I hated it when people tried to help me out because I had a 'disadvantage'.

We went to bed that day and waited for the festival of the undead. I was too exited so I couldn't sleep and Darren was too sore. We decided to go and do something fun. The gaming halls were empty so we went over to the bars and decided to practice. We hopped on and started swiping at each other straight away. Darren was sore and got big-headed when he managed to hit me...once. I floored him in no more than two jabs. First I jabbed at his knee, then at his stomach, knocking him off of the bars.

We were exhausted by the time we got back to our room. We fell asleep straight away, welcoming the lovely, painless feel of sleep.


	21. Chapter 21

We yawned and sat up, stretched and pulled some clothes on, I always slept in some leggings and a vest top so in the morning I only needed to pull a jumper on, then I needed to grab my weapons, that went everywhere with me. We walked down to the hall of Kheldon Lurt to get some breakfast but on the way we got pulled aside. Darren by Mr. Crepsley and me by Arra. I growled "HEY! What gives?!" She smiled and said "We need to get you some new clothes for the festival." I groaned when I noticed that she was wearing a long flowing dress. I groaned "Please, please no dresses!" She looked at me and laughed, "Not like this," she gestured to herself "More like this." She reached into a cupboard and pulled out a smaller dress. It ended just over the knee and had black and white dogtooth print all over. She chucked me a pair of red leggings that went to half way down my shin. She gave me a thin black cloth cardigan that was almost as long as the dress to wear as well.

I put it all on behind a curtain and walked out, she clapped and said "Now we can go," I smiled and nodded. I walked out and saw Darren in a black tux. I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and his jaw dropped. I punched him on the shoulder and got a yelp of pain in response. "What?" I asked shrugging. He smiled and stuttered "Y...y...you look...great." I looked back at Arra who winked; I smiled at him and said "You look great too." We walked down to the hall of gathering where there were at least four-hundred vampires crammed into the hall. The suit that Darren was wearing didn't last long because it irritated him too much. Vane rushed off and bought him some flimsy light clothes; they still irritated him but not as much.

Seba whispered something to Darren, he was about to reply but a very loud noise cut him off. It was, I think, a gong. Every vampire in the hall went completely quiet and still. The princes went on to make an announcement welcoming everyone to the mountain. They then went to announce all of the vampires that had died since last council. After every name that was announced all the vampires, and I, made the deaths touch sign and said "Even in death, may he be triumphant." After all of that was done we got to the celebrating. All the vampires rushed off to the gaming halls, apart from the vampires who wrestled in the corridors connecting the halls. We got carried to the gaming halls with all of the other vampires. Harkat was tossing vampires over his shoulder left, right and centre. Darren got pulled over by another vampire. I was watching Darren get his butt kicked when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I spun around and shouted over the noise "Oh, hi Mr. Crepsley." He nodded and was smiling like a wild man. He said to me "Let us see what you have learnt." I smiled and nodded. I walked into the ring with Mr. Crepsley who was excited about another challenge. We pulled out our knives as I tossed my bow to the side. We held our knives up, I nodded and started the match. First he leaped at me using his speed. I dodged out of the way as he said "Good," He landed and just stood there watching me. I stayed deathly still until the right time, too close and I would miss, too far away and he would block me easily. He was just about the right distance when I leapt at him dagger outstretched in front of me. I landed on his chest and held the knife to his throat. I growled at him "Give up yet?" He tutted and said sourly "I may have taught you everything that you know, but not everything that I know." I narrowed my eyes and felt a something on my stomach. I looked down where I found his knife pressed against the skin of my stomach. I put my hands up and dropped the knives I was holding. "I give up," I said. He lowered his knife. When the knife was away from 'stabbing range' I said "But not now." I quickly ducked down and grabbed my knives, kicked him square in the chest and held my knives to his throat once again in an x shape around his neck. He looked up at me as I hissed "You give up now?" He shook his head but said nothing. I made the knives bite deeper down into his skin, drawing blood. He winced in pain as he whispered "Game over, you win." I nodded thanks, got up, dusted myself off and grabbed my bow. I walked over to where Darren was, passed out on the floor, getting patted on the back on the way for defeating Mr. Crepsley. When I got there people were shouting at him to wake up. I saw someone with a bowl of water. I rushed over to the vampire holding it and said "Can I borrow this," before he could answer I grabbed the bowl and legged it to the other side of the hall dodging the wrestling vampires as I went. I got to Darren and dumped the water on his head, laughing. He coughed and stuttered as he sat up and said "Best out of three?" We all laughed and cheered. He had a second round on jousting but only lasted a few seconds; we all cheered anyway and carried him off for some beer. He did that sour-lemon-face when he tried it to start with. He downed the whole jug and then looked a little tipsy, I just laughed when he fell over someone else's foot. Darren decided no more beer, for that night, whereas I decided no alcohol for me at all! We wondered around and bumped into Kurda. I growled and walked over to watch Arra. Arra smiled at me and gestured to Kurda "Let's challenge Kurda!" I shook my head and said "Arra, you will lose." I said this seriously but she took no notice. She whistled to Kurda and challenged him; he complained he had a sore leg, that liar! Nonetheless she managed to get him on the bars. They had their match and needless to say she got knocked off when she started to get big-headed. She was on the floor, she looked at me with pain in her eyes, but it wasn't physical. I turned my head but her gaze stayed on me until she left the hall.

As day came most vampires went to sleep because they were tired and wounded. At sunset there would be a massive ball for everyone. When time came everyone took to the dance floor even those with broken legs or cracked skulls. As soon as the sun set everyone raised their heads and howled. Darren's voice went out early but I stayed strong, I mean it's kind of easy to howl when you're half wolf anyway. Everyone betted on who they thought would win, nobody betted on me, after all I was only human. At the end it was me and a _massive _vampire called Yebba. His face was going red with strain, his voice was cracking. I was perfectly fine, I wasn't even out of breath but I stopped. I mean how much shame it would cause him if he lost to a human. He was greeted with cheers and howls all around, he gave me a small nod, I guess he realised what I did for him.

As soon as he had been announced Yebba of the howl, the music started playing and the vampires started dancing. The song finished and she vampires smiled and laughed together. Suddenly on the platform, which I guess was really a stage, was Paris Skyle the eight-hundred year old vampire prince. He boomed across the hall "This council we are doing something different, you can now perform," He got down off the stage. I felt a hand pushing me towards the stage, I spun round and said "Why, Darren?" He smiled brightly and said "I've heard you sing and play guitar before, you're performing." I shook my head and stuttered "No no no no I can't." He smiled and said "Yes you can, and there's a guitar over there." He pointed in one direction, where sure enough there was a guitar in the corner. I grabbed it and tried a few chords, the guitar wasn't as good as the one I had left with Evra at the cirque but it would have to do. I smiled at Darren and said "Okay...but you owe me." He nodded and said "I can deal with that." He walked out on stage, the entire hall went quiet as he announced "Here is Vix," He gestured to the side of the stage when I walked on. I couldn't help but smile.

I sat on a stool that had been laid in the middle of the stage. I shouted out in to the audience "I will perform one of my favourite songs from when I was with my human family." I strummed an intro on guitar, they already seemed interested. When I started to sing most of the vampires jaws dropped. I sang:

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight  
>Not a footprint to be seen<br>A kingdom of isolation,  
>And it looks like I'm the Queen.<p>

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside  
>Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried<p>

Don't let them in, don't let them see  
>Be the good girl you always have to be<br>Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know  
>Well, now they know<p>

Let it go, let it go  
>Can't hold it back anymore<br>Let it go, let it go  
>Turn away and slam the door<p>

I don't care  
>What they're going to say<br>Let the storm rage on,  
>The cold never bothered me anyway<p>

It's funny how some distance  
>Makes everything seem small<br>And the fears that once controlled me  
>Can't get to me at all<p>

It's time to see what I can do  
>To test the limits and break through<br>No right, no wrong, no rules for me  
>I'm free<p>

Let it go, let it go  
>I am one with the wind and sky<br>Let it go, let it go  
>You'll never see me cry<p>

Here I stand  
>And here I'll stay<br>Let the storm rage on

My power flurries through the air into the ground  
>My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around<br>And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast  
>I'm never going back,<br>The past is in the past

Let it go, let it go  
>And I'll rise like the break of dawn<br>Let it go, let it go  
>That perfect girl is gone<p>

Here I stand  
>In the light of day<br>Let the storm rage on,  
>The cold never bothered me anyway<p>

Darren happily had a quick little dance to my song but after a while he had to stop because the itching was unbearable. When I finished my song I was answered with cheers and howls all around the hall, even Mr. Crepsley enjoyed it. Darren and I went to talk to Seba. Darren asked how he could stop the itching. We got told to go and talk to Kurda and to get Madam Octa. Darren went to get Kurda and I went to go and get Madam Octa. She was in Mr. Crepsley's room. I grabbed her off the rock table and ran down to where I agreed to meet Kurda, Darren and Seba. We walked down a maze of tunnels going deeper and deeper, darker and darker.

As we were walking down the tunnel Kurda had his head buried in a piece of paper. Gavner had also come to see where we were going. Kurda tried to light a candle but Seba grabbed his hand and stopped him before he could. Darren looked in confusion at the older vampire and said "Why can't he light a candle?" I rolled my eyes and turned around to say to him "Smell the air," He paused and sniffed the air. He crinkled his nose in disgust as he said "It smells horrible," I nodded "Of course, rocks naturally release a gas that is poisonous," I paused and turned to look at Kurda "And extremely flammable," He put the candle away and looked at me in confusion. I punched him on the arm and said "Kurda... when I went to school I had top grades in everything, apart from physical education." He smiled as he saw me in a new light. I rolled my eyes as I said "What, brains over brawn." I smiled at him for possibly the first time. We carried on after our conversation and kept walking the endless halls. After a while of hunching over in small tunnels we emerged in a big cave covered in spider webs. There were spiders everywhere. Seba told us to be quiet. They were very hairy and they were yellow and gray. Madam Octa watched in fascination as I showed her around the hall. I said to her using her chirping language "You like it here don't you." As I was talking to Madam Octa I heard Kurda question "What is she doing?" Gavner chuckled and said to him "She can speak with animals." A few of the spiders crawled up Darren, Seba and I but we didn't mind them. It was Kurda and Gavner that were jumping around like ballerinas. "Scared of spiders, twinkle toes?" I laughed as Gavner went red in the face and puffed "No, I'm not overly fond of them." I laughed again and had a chat with the spiders. They were happy about the visitors and they laughed when I told them that Gavner and Kurda were afraid of them.

Seba, Darren and I had fun making them hop around between us. I was slightly unlucky because Seba and Darren could control them whereas I had to ask them. When we had finished having our fun Darren asked Seba why we were down here. "Hold your arm out," I said. I grabbed some of the webs off of my hair and rubbed them in my hands so that they crumbled into a powder. He looked at me in curiosity as I rubbed the powder into his cuts and bruises. I asked Seba "Can I have some?" He nodded and said "Make sure to tell the spiders you mean no harm before taking their homes." I chuckled and nodded. I went to a corner of the cave and politely asked the spider for their webs. They agreed so I went ahead and made a powder and shoved it into my cardigan pocket. After Seba had finished with Darren we walked back up to our rooms.

Darren led down in his hammock and actually got some sleep for once. Once he was asleep I walked out of our room and went to find a jar. I walked to the store rooms where I grabbed an empty jar and poured the powder in. Next I went to find Mr. Crepsley. I found him still in the ring. He looked at me when I walked up to him. I asked Mr. Crepsley "Can you spit in this jar." He looked me over and said "Why?" I looked at him and signalled for him to bend down so that I could whisper something. I went up to his ear and whispered "It's for Darren's next trial." He nodded and worked up some spit before firing it into the jar. I nodded and said "Thanks," I ran out the hall before anyone could challenge me to anything.

Next I ran to the hall of Kheldon Lurt where I grabbed some water. Normally what happened was when I put my energy into the water to let it heal but then as soon as I stopped concentrating it would go back to being normal water! This time though I ran back to the room and sat down on the floor. I concentrated so hard on keeping the water's healing properties that I almost passes out from exhaustion. I screwed the lid on the jar and hid it under my pillow. I went to sleep as soon as I led down.


	22. Chapter 22

Darren managed to get drunk the next day and he was singing songs about how he was the prince of ale. In one verse he actually sung about having the queen of ale with him. He was drunk so I didn't take anything about what he said seriously. The queen of ale was apparently me. Then again he did try to kiss Arra. She was sober and had her staff with her, that didn't end well. She wacked him over the head and knocked him out so I had to carry him back to our room. He kept falling out of his hammock so I put his pillow and blanket on the floor and made him sleep there.

The next day was the last day of the festival. This day was devoted to songs and storytelling. I got asked many times to play songs for the other vampires. At the end of the day (well night) Darren needed to go to the hall of princes to learn about his next trial. I waited outside with Harkat because I didn't want to be there to see him pick out his trial. The vampires emerged looking sullen and sad. I looked at Vanez and asked "Hall of flames?" He nodded and said "How did you know?" I shook my head and replied "Don't worry," We walked to a large cavern with a room in the middle and in that room was a metal floor with holes. Outside, five fires would be lit and pumped through pipes, through the holes and into the room.

I was asked to come and help because I could control the fire if it got too out of hand. Like when Arra had to go and do something and was not keeping an eye on Darren. And if he was trapped in a corner enclosed by fire he would need help getting out. I had to set a branch on fire for Arra and I who ran them across his skin. He whined and screeched that it hurt so just to shut him up I pulled up one of my trouser legs and drove the branch on my own skin in swirls and patterns, I've got to admit though that it did really hurt. Arra just laughed at his face when I burnt myself. She said to Darren "You can't even do that, she's doing that to herself AND she is human."He just scowled at that and let Arra burn his skin. He trained for most of the next day and night.

The day of Darren's trial was actually my birthday, May the 26th. When I told Darren about it he ran out of the room. I tried to stop him but it was no use. I would be twenty; I joined the cirque at age thirteen, and spent six years there, then came to Vampire Mountain. I looked about fourteen at the moment due to my slow ageing. I sat in my hammock and went to sleep.

The next day (night) I was shaken awake. I opened my eyes groaning and saw Darren. "What?" I groaned, still annoyed about my sleep deprivation. He had a massive smile plastered across his face. "I got you a birthday present," he chirped happily. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, yawned and smiled. "Thanks," I said as he handed me a box. I opened it and saw "A rock?" I questioned. "Not just any rock! It's from the spiders den in the bottom of the mountain, in other words it's pure and it's small so I don't know you could like make it into a bracelet or something and then always have some rock with you." I smiled, that's actually a pretty good present. I smiled even brighter and pulled him into a hug. I squeezed down on the rock and formed it into a bracelet to go on the top of my arm. I slipped it on and gave Darren another massive hug.

We walked down to the hall that Darren's trial would be held in. He was nervous about this one; it would be the hardest yet! He walked into the room in the middle of the cavern and waved at me before the door slammed close. I sat at the edge of the cavern on my own. I slipped the bracelet off of the top of my arm and held it in my hand. I squeezed down on it and made it into different shapes, first a star, then a spiral, then a ring, then a heart. I made it back into a bracelet and slipped it on my arm. I closed my eyes and actually managed to drift off to sleep. I was awoken by shouting and cheering. The door to the room was open, Darren! I stumbled across to where Darren would be and found him burnt and scared. He kept miming the word fire over and over again, like it was still here. He got carried out to the medical room. We weren't allowed to go in to start with. After about two hours of waiting outside nervously we got called in. Darren was passed out on a bed, his breathing was uneasy and he let out small wheezes. The people that were attending medically to Darren left the room. I walked over to Darren and grabbed the bowl of water next to his bed. Gavner rushed over and grabbed my hand. "What are you doing?!" he hissed. Mr. Crepsley calmly walked over and said to Gavner "She knows what she is doing." Most of the vampires did not know about my healing ability apart from the vampires that witnessed my first fight on the bars with Arra. I used the water and held it over the burns on his arm. The water glowed blue as it started to heal the burns. When I do this, the water does not really heal it, it does as much as it can and dulls the pain a lot. Gavner watched in mesmerisation as I moved the globe of water over Darren's burns and scars. It was worse on his feet so I dug out the cream I had made a few nights before and rubbed it into his skin. The red shiny flesh on his feet went away but I could still see that they were burnt. "What is that?" Mr. Crepsley asked. I stopped with Darren and turned to face him "It has," I looked over at Seba "A special ingredient to stop itching," Seba smiled and nodded his silent thanks "It has the spit of you, to heal and my concentrated healing water to dull pain." Gavner smiled and said "That's quite a concoction." I nodded "Thank you," I said. Darren groaned softly so I turned around to face Darren, but as quickly as he woke up, he passed out again. We left the room, happy that he was still alive.

That night I went to my room. Harkat was nowhere to be seen so I was on my own. I drew some pictures in my sketch book. I pulled up my sleeves and saw my 'tattoos'. I sighed, I really didn't like them. Suddenly I heard an evil voice say "You have done very well in not revealing others destinies." I knew who it was, Desmond Tiny. I looked at him and mumbled "Thanks," He looked at me. I was tracing the markings along my arms and legs. "I can give you a reward, your choice." I stopped trailing my finger. "Get rid of them," I said pointing to my markings. He shook his head "I can't get rid of all of them," my heart sank "But I can get rid of most of them." I cocked my head in confusion. "You keep the ones on that arm." He pointed to my left arm. "But all the others will go." I nodded. My left arm had my bracelet on. All of a sudden he disappeared. I looked down at my arms and legs and saw that all my markings were gone apart from the ones on my left arm. I still had the burns from the branch on my right leg though.

I didn't get to see Darren for a while so it was a massive surprise when I saw him being carried to the hall of princes a few hours later. He was meant to be choosing his next trial about now. I ran to the stretcher he was being carried on. Once he saw me he croaked "Vix!" I rolled my eyes "Of course it's me." He looked down at my arms and legs. Today I was wearing three quarter leggings and a tank top with no jumper. He said "Their gone." I nodded and said "Yes, apart from these ones." I pointed to my left arm. I asked him "Will you be alright to stand?" He looked at me with a worried expression and said "I'm... not sure." I pulled out the cream that was tucked away in the small bag I wore (that also carried my arrows). I screwed off the lid and put some of the cream on my fingers. I rubbed it on his soles. He flinched and groaned at the touch. I finished putting the cream on and smiled at his laid back expression, I guess it helps. I said to him and Mr. Crepsley "There that should help." They nodded their thanks as I went to the hall of Kheldon Lurt to grab a bite to eat.

I went to the medical room to check on Darren. I walked in and found him as I saw him earlier, being treated, bald and wheezing, but at least this time he was awake. I walked in and sat on the end of the bed he was in. "Hi, how you doing?" He coughed "Fine...my arm...hurts." I laughed "So you decided to speak like Harkat then?" He laughed but ended up having a coughing fit. I turned to one of the medics "Can I try and help?" I asked them. The vampire replied "Sure, but I doubt you will be able to do anything to help." I growled because he said it as sarcastically as possible. I asked the vampire "Can I have a bowl of water." He nodded and got a bowl of water from the other side of the room. I grabbed the bowl off of him and made the water float in the air in a globe. I put the globe on his arm. It glowed blue as it started to heal. He sighed in relief that the pain had abated. I handed the bowl back to the vampire who had his jaw dropped; I looked at him and said sarcastically "Oh look, I helped." I saw Darren snigger from the corner of my eye. I walked back to my room and drew a picture. Darren enjoyed seeing my pictures and listening to my music.

I grabbed my sketch book and ran back to the room that Darren was in. Kurda was also there. I sat where I always sat at the end of Darren's bed. I opened my sketch book. I had drawn Steve but I needed to talk to Darren about him. I showed him the page, he gasped. I said "Who is this?" He said back to me "That's Steve Leonard, my old best friend." I nodded and said "I don't know him, but I will never trust him." Darren looked sad at that. We carried on talking about what had been happening in the mountain. I made Darren laugh because I told him that a new vampire was eyeing Arra and she broke his nose. I left shortly after, I was the most frequent visitor but I never actually stuck around for long. Mr. Crepsley had gone to talk to Darren. I knew what about but I was curious anyway. I walked into the room and heard silence. "Are you going to accept the job then?" He looked at me "How do you know these things Vix, you know almost everything about what's going on." I shook my head and said "Don't worry, I know everything about you guys and I know what's going to happen to you guys." He looked sad "But you will not tell us, will you." I shook my head "Sadly, no." He nodded and said "Destiny is a complicated thing." I nodded my head. "Anyway, Darren, you will be stuck inside of the mountain." He nodded "If Mr. Crepsley wants to stay, then I will stay." I nodded, Darren was talking properly now but he was still coughing. "What about you Vix?" I thought about it for a moment before saying "Where you go, I go," He nodded and smiled "Thanks Vix," I smiled back "No problem," Harkat also agreed to stay with us.


	23. Chapter 23

Darren was waiting outside of the arena, waiting to go in for his next trial. I tapped him on the shoulder, he flinched before turning around. I smiled apologetically "Sorry, I won't be watching the trial, I really need to go and train." He nodded. As soon as I finished talking the gate opened, ready for Darren to go in. I said to him before he walked in "Darren, just remember, you can't make your own destiny, only fulfil it," He nodded and turned around but I grabbed him by the arm, I looked him in the eyes and said "Or, fail it." He nodded sullenly and pulled me into a hug. "Good luck," I said, he just smiled and replied "Don't need it." I smiled before watching him walk into the arena. I left to go and train in the training rooms with the dummies. This time I decided to practice with my bow. I trained for a while before walking back to our room. I opened the door and saw Darren pacing back and forth. "Told you that you'd need the luck," He laughed but I could tell that nerves were eating away at him. "Sit down," I said before walking over to him, putting my hands on his shoulder I guided him over to his hammock.

He started chewing his nails; his nerves would be the end of him. He told me all that had happened. There was a knock at the door, Darren went stone still and said "This is it," He walked over to the door, stumbling a bit. He opened the door and in walked none other than Kurda. Kurda tried to convince Darren to get out the mountain to flee. I yelled at Kurda "That is dishonourable; you are the most gruesome, idiotic, and dishonourable, most awful excuse for a vampire I have ever met!" He looked hurt, and I mean _very_ hurt. Darren agreed to leave with Kurda. "Are you coming?" I thought for a moment "Why not." We snuck around like criminals through tunnels. Darren was too tired so we had to stop every few minutes to rest.

Soon after Gavner joined us. He tapped me on the shoulder, I went to go and shout but Kurda immediately put his hand over my mouth. I swatted it away and growled "Don't." Kurda gulped and we carried on. Gavner told us along the way that he had followed Darren's trail of blood. Gavner was wearing like two massive jumpers so I asked for one. He handed it to me. I ripped it up into strips and wrapped it around Darren's arms and legs because that is where the blood was dripping from.

Soon we hit a problem. Kurda wanted to go down one path that was considerably longer whereas Gavner wanted to go down a shorter separate one. They were arguing about it when I spoke up and said "We go Gavner's way." Gavner smiled triumphantly and crawled down a separate tunnel. Kurda scowled at me, so I winked at him, Darren had to stifle a laugh when he saw Kurda's face afterwards.

We followed Gavner so Kurda had no choice. We crawled through the tunnel and the next tunnel. This tunnel passed under a roaring stream, we passed under with no problem but had to put up with Kurda's grumbling. We got to the end where Kurda complained about how he didn't want to go under the stream and that's why he wanted to go the other way, but I knew better.

We were walking when I stopped dead in my tracks. My ears flicked one way, then the other then back the other way. Gavner saw this and said "What is it," I listened again. "I heard someone cough," I said. Darren looked frightened "Is it a search party?" he asked. I shook my head "They would be coming from behind." I answered. I looked at Gavner who said "I'll go check." I nodded but Kurda interrupted and said "There's no need." Gavner rolled his eyes and went to check it out anyway. Kurda argued to carry on but Darren and I told him that we were waiting for Gavner.

When Gavner got back he looked terrified, and when I say that I mean he looked absolutely terrified. He sank to the floor of the tunnel. Darren asked what was going on but Gavner was wordless. He told us to go and check but I stayed put. Gavner asked "Why aren't you going?" I shrugged and replied "I already know what's there." He cocked his head in confusion; I rolled my eyes and pointed to my nose. "Ah, that's how." He realised. Darren came back the same as Gavner, terrified.

We discussed what we were going to do about them. We decided to go back and tell someone about it. We started heading back when Kurda told us to shush. He hissed at us "Someone's coming!" Darren's breath caught in his throat. We had to turn around. There were three tunnels, Gavner wanted to go through the middle one but Kurda wanted to go through the left one. We went through the left one, Darren didn't look in pain anymore so that was good. We got to the end of the left tunnel but a load of rocks had fallen in and blocked the exit. We went back through a different maze of tunnels. Kurda warned us that we were right behind where the vampaneze were so we had to be quiet. Darren warned us that he didn't have a weapon. Gavner had two knives but needed both and Kurda had one. Darren looked at me hopefully, but I said "I have two knives but I need them both and I have my bow, but you can't use it, vampire rules." He swore under his breath as we carried on.

Shortly after we saw a vampaneze, before anyone had time to react Gavner had gone and buried one of his knives in the vampaneze's stomach and drew a gash along his throat. He caught the dead body just before it hit the floor. We started to move on but as soon as we took a step another vampaneze appeared at the end of the dark tunnel. The vampaneze yelled for help. Tons of vampaneze leaked in through the opening of the tunnel. Gavner turned around and told us to run. One of the vampaneze with a birth mark on his cheek ran at Gavner. I grabbed my bow and took an arrow. I let go of the arrow, it sailed pass Gavner and shot the vampaneze in the shoulder. He roared out in pain and walked back, I couldn't help it "Hah! Take that Glalda!" The vampaneze looked surprised that I knew his name. I took this opportunity to talk to Gavner "You hold them back, we'll go on." He nodded and turned to fight. I made the deaths touch sign and said to him "Even in death, may you be triumphant." We turned around and started to run. Kurda stopped, gave us directions and went to fight with Gavner. Instead of leaving Darren walked to go and help them. I grabbed his arm and begged "Darren, please don't go." He looked at me and shook his head "I have to," He said. He ran off so I had no option but go and follow him. I walked to where he was and saw Gavner on the floor and Darren next to him crying. Gavner muttered something to Darren. Before he lost his life I walked past him, shoving Kurda out the way. I bent down next to Gavner, who was looking at the ceiling. I said to him "Alicia would be proud." He somehow heard me. Then, smiling, his final breath of life was pulled from him.

I growled and faced Kurda. "You will be punished." He went to go and speak but before he could I punched him in the face as hard as I could, his nose started bleeding and he got knocked to the floor. Nobody dared to move as Darren and I cried over the death of one of our best friends, Gavner Purl. Darren grabbed one of Gavner's knives as I pulled out both of mine. Darren went to go and stab Kurda but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Darren screamed at him and through the knife. Kurda ducked, as soon as he did Darren and I took this opportunity to run.

We ran down tunnels but Darren stopped when we got to the tunnel where the stream roared overhead. He bent over panting; he was trying to catch his breath when we heard voices behind us. "Look, there they are." I heard someone shout. "Don't hurt them!" I heard Kurda say. About five vampaneze appeared. I panicked and pulled the water down through the rock between us. Before all the water could come through I froze it, to make a makeshift shield between us. I saw one of the vampaneze say "What the?" I pushed Darren to go forward because I already saw them managing to break through the ice. We ran as fast as we could when we finally got to the hall of final voyage. We could hear more vampaneze coming after us that before. We were on one side of the stream. Darren walked to the edge of the river but I pulled him back, afraid he might fall. I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, obviously annoyed. I pointed to the other side of the room where one of the pale skinned guardians of blood was sitting on a rock and leaning against the wall. We tried to get the guardians attention but he just said something, made a sign with his hands and then slipped silently out of the cave.

We were going to try and jump to the other side but it was clear that Darren couldn't. Also I don't think I could have made it, pulling the water down through the rock was tiring. Darren looked at the water and jumped.

He landed right in the water as soon as the vampaneze poured through the entrance to the cave. "Get the girl!" I heard one of them yell. I looked around and saw a load of vampaneze moving in. I looked down into the river and saw Darren had held of a rock and was half in the water. I looked back at the vampaneze who were now moving out the way for Kurda. He saw me at the edge and lunged for my arm. I jumped on top of the rock that Darren was on. I landed with a soft _thud _and crouched down, I wasn't wet, yet! As I was steadying myself Darren and Kurda were talking and then by the time I was still I saw Darren go through the mouth of the river, down the mountain. Kurda then turned to me and said "You can help me; someone who can control the elements is very powerful." I looked at him and said "I will never help a traitor; you will perish in the lake of souls." He looked in confusion and fear as I jumped high in the air. I needed to protect myself as I was not a vampire. I pulled some water out the river and curled into a ball, the water encased me in a shield-like bubble. I landed in the water and rushed off down the mountain after Darren. I fell asleep in the bubble because making the shield took its toll on me.


	24. Chapter 24

I clutched my fists and realised that I was still in a ball. I squeezed a knife out of my belt and stabbed at the ice. With one stab the bubble shattered and I spread out along the snow. I was damp but not wet so that is a plus-side. I led there with my eyes closed, after a few minutes of silence I heard the light pitter-patter of footsteps. I opened my eyes and turned my head to the side. I smiled and jumped up, even though I fell over straight away because my legs were numb. This time I just sat up slowly and stroked the fur belonging to my best friend, Misty the wolf. "Hey girl," I cooed. She said back "Darren is with the pack, he's fine." I smiled and said "I better head back to the mountain." She whined in reply "Please don't go, I missed you?" She begged. I smiled "You come with me." She smiled in her wolf way and followed me back to the mountain. On the way back I asked her "So, how long have I been there." She thought for a moment and said "Well, I was having a drink when you arrived and I waited for you for...three days." My eyes opened wide "Three days?!" I started to run back to the mountain. We got there in about ten minutes, it was light when we got there so all the vampires would be sleeping or trying to sleep. We got to the doors of the mountain where two guards were, on guard.

I walked up to them and said "Blah blah blah, Victoria Hale, blah blah blah." The one on the right rolled his eyes and the one on the left sniggered and got thwacked round the head by the other guard, they were not so sure about Misty but I managed to convince them to let her in as well. I got let into the mountain and I walked straight to the hall of Kheldon Lurt. To my surprise I found Mr. Crepsley on his own at a table, chewing his fingernails.

I sat down on the other side of the table but he didn't notice. "Halloo?" I said, waving a hand in front of his face. He looked up and shouted "Vix?! Do you know where Darren is, or Gavner?" I didn't know what to say, if he knew then Kurda would die straight away and everything would go wrong so I had to go along with what was meant to happen. "No?" I said, faking confusion. "Why, what's happened to Gavner and Darren?" Mr. Crepsley sighed and said "Gavner and Darren can't be found and you were missing as well, speaking of which, where were you?" Okay, I need to think of a reasonable lie I thought to myself. I said to Mr. Crepsley "I went to go and find Misty and when I did find her I decided to stay with her for a while." He looked me over, I knew that he thought I was lying but he went along with it anyway, even he knows I have limits on what I can and can't say.

He said to me "You should go and get some rest." I nodded and went to my room, Misty in tow. I got to my room and found Harkat pacing from side to side of the room. "Hi Harkat," I said "Vix!" He yelled running over. "How are you?" I said to him "Well...my two...best friends...go...missing and...Then you...turn up out...of...nowhere!" He almost yelled. I said back smirking "So...you're ticked off then?" He nodded and said "Duh!" We laughed and I said "I really need to get some sleep though now." He nodded and continued pacing.

I had a good sleep and got up and stroked Misty. I put on a jumper and walked out of the room. I walked to the gaming halls where I found Arra on the bars, like always. I walked over to go and watch her. Most of the vampires looked in confusion at the wolf on my lap. Arra saw me and said "It's been long enough, welcome back Vix." I smiled and retorted "It's been three days Arra." She laughed and spotted Misty. I saw that her eyes were on Misty and said to her "This is my best friend, Misty the wolf." She smiled and nodded, normally if your best friend is a wolf that would be weird, but with me it's normal.

Then Kurda walked in.

He gasped and ran over to me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the hall and into the barren tunnel. "What?" I hissed. He started to yell but then realised that he needed to be quiet "What do you mean what?! You saw...well, what you saw, you go missing for three days and then you're here?!" I smiled "I'm a lot tougher than I look." I said. "I know, you went down a flipping river." He hissed. I laughed "That was fun." At that moment Misty came out of the crowd of vampires and over to Kurda and I. She growled as soon as she saw Kurda. He gasped "Why is there a wolf in the mountain!?" I smiled and bent down to tickle behind her ear. As I bent down I spoke to her in her language "We are in danger, we know, if he makes a move, attack." She nodded and I stood back up to look eye to eye with Kurda. "This is my best friend, I can talk to all animals, oh and she is also my as you would say guard dog." He gulped so I laughed and walked away Misty in tow. I walked back to our room and sat on the hammock. I had a nice conversation with Misty and then went to get a meal. About a week and went by when Mr. Crepsley walked into my room. He looked at me, looking as sour as ever and shook me awake. "We are going on a search for Darren, I would not usually bother you but you have a good since of smell and so does Misty so will you please accompany us." I nodded and rubbed my eyes groggily. He said "Well, we are leaving now, so get ready." My eyes snapped open and I fell out of my hammock, I pulled on a jumper and woke Misty up. I explained what we were doing and added on the end "They can't find him." She nodded understanding why and followed Mr. Crepsley and I out of the door. Arra was waiting at the door and so were Kurda and two other guards. Arra now had her cast off but her arm was still not as strong as it should be.

We walked out the mountain and wandered around for a few minutes. We got to a hill where we saw two reindeer that ran away as soon as we saw them. I sniffed the air and caught a whiff of Darren. I saw him peak out from behind a bush, I smiled at him and winked. Mr. Crepsley asked me, "Have you caught his scent?" I shook my head "No, neither of us have," I replied gesturing to Misty.

We kept walking forward when Mr. Crepsley stopped the search. We went back after an argument was put up by Kurda. Mr. Crepsley said that Kurda's becoming of a prince was more important than finding Darren. I told them that I would be coming back after them and that I was going to practice with my bow and arrow. He agreed and headed back to the mountain. As Kurda passed me I whispered to him "Why so edgy?" He just scowled and kept walking. I waited until they were out of sight before I said to where I knew Darren was hiding. "Hi, this should help," I took the healing cream out of my satchel and rolled it under the bush. I then ran back to the mountain with Misty.

I got back inside the mountain where I went back to my room where I found, once again, Harkat. He asked me worriedly "Have you...found...anything?" I shook my head "No, you're really worried about him, aren't you?" He nodded in reply but said nothing. I decided to do some more of my drawings, this time I drew Streak and Rudi. I was surprised when I found that they actually looked a lot like Streak and Rudi.

The drawings took me a few hours because drawings take a long time. I finished about when the sun should be rising. After I had finished I was really bored so I went to go and see if I could help Seba because I could help do things for him with my talents. I walked to Seba's room and asked if he needed any help. He replied "Actually, Vix, yes I do need some help, can you heat this water?" I nodded and set to work. I helped him in his room for a few hours and then he asked if I needed a break. I said yes and he handed me some bread and gestured to his coffin. I closed the lid and sat on the recently polished box of death. I felt uncomfortable around coffins so I would never go inside one, I would rather sleep on the floor, or in a hammock, either is fine.

I had about an hour's break when there was a knock at the door. Seba answered by saying "Over here, Thomas, I told you not to bother knocking. The investiture is a mere two hours away. We do not have time for-"He was then completely shell-shocked when Darren walked through the door. I smiled and punched Darren on the arm and said "Took you long enough." He laughed and continued. I kept eating my bread until I heard my name, Darren was saying something like "I swam down the stream, down the mountain and she did to." Seba looked at me incredulously, I shrugged. Darren then talked to Seba about Gavner but I knew it pained him to talk about Gavner after what we saw. Darren then proceeded to inform Seba of Kurda's plans, I added details to Darren's story but I never gave anything away.

At the end of it all Seba was red in the face with rage, Darren just had to add on the end "Vix has known the whole time." I face palmed. Seba turned around and fixed his glare on me and yelled "Why did you not tell me!" I sighed "Seba, I know everything that will happen and things that could happen if I reveal anyone's Destiny. It was not my Destiny to tell you, it was Darren's." He nodded understandingly.

We then made plans for the night. I could hide with Darren and help him, should any danger emerge.

I followed Darren through different path ways around the mountain until we got to a small passageway. Darren started carving away and the wall, surprisingly it crumbled really easily. He carved a hole about as big as us so we could fit through when the time came. Seba had guards in there that would kill anyone who dared to raise a weapon against us.

Kurda walked in, walking proudly, how dare he! We waited until he was half way towards the platform and then ducked through the holes, Darren with his wolf friends and I with Misty. We yelled as loud as we could "STOP!"

Everything went deathly quiet and all eyes were on us. Mr. Crepsley's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he ran towards Darren. Darren didn't take his eyes off of Kurda though so he didn't realise when a vampire ran at him with a knife. I grabbed my bow and an arrow and let it soar through the air. It hit the vampire's knife out of his hand. The vampire looked surprised at my quick reaction so I took this chance and grabbed him. I put my knife to his throat and slit his neck. The limp body fell to the ground. Mr. Crepsley looked in awe and murmured just loud enough for me to hear "I have taught you well." I nodded and trained my thoughts on what was happening. Two other traitors had spears but they were taken care of by Seba's men.

Everyone looked in shock at the carnage around them. Plus it didn't ease anyone's conscience that the three wolves were chewing on the vampire that I had killed. I barked at them to stop, they whined but then came and stood at our heels once again.

Darren went up to the platform and explained while I held an arrow against the string of my bow, if anyone else raised a weapon I wouldn't hesitate to shoot them right there and right then making a brutal yet necessary end.

When Darren said that Kurda was a traitor, the hall erupted and all vampires encased him and started to kick and punch him. Darren was allowed to speak but only because Seba had spoken up on his behalf. When he said that Kurda had killed Gavner I had to wipe tears from my eyes. I didn't want to hear any more. I went to go and walk back through the hole I heard a roar; one of Kurda's assistants had broken free and was armed. Before anyone could react I grabbed a knife from my belt and threw it at him. It lodged in his chest and he fell to the ground. Everyone looked back at me in surprise; they didn't know that a human with one eye could have such a good aim.

Without saying anything I went back through the hole and through the tunnels back to my room. I sat on my hammock and got drawing a picture of Gavner. I finished the picture and went to go and get something to eat, I asked Harkat if he wanted to come, he nodded and said that he would. Harkat didn't know that Darren was back because only vampires were allowed in to a prince's investiture, that's why I had to go with Darren.

We walked to the hall of Kheldon Lurt. When we got there Darren was stuffing his face with food. Harkat, Darren and Mr. Crepsley had a chat while I ate some fried rat with Darren.

We needed to go tracking because the vampires needed to see if Darren was telling the truth. I was asked to go and help because I could smell out stuff. We went as quietly as possible down to where we had found the vampaneze before. We crawled under the stream. Vanez stopped to say "What happened here?" I smiled guiltily "Um...I needed to defend us." He laughed and nodded. We crawled under destroyed ice and rock and carried on. To Darren's dismay the cavern was empty. The vampires got to work on searching the cavern and luckily they found several traces of the vampaneze.

We walked back happy with ourselves because we had found traces of the vampaneze. Darren went back early to tell the others what we had found. Vanez asked if I could try and sniff them out. That was no problem, being quiet was. I sniffed them out straight away. I walked through a tunnel and then ducked through a pretty much unnoticeable crevice that nobody would have seen. I stood up straight but had to duck back down when I saw all the vampaneze lounging around. I ducked back through the crevice that nobody else could fit through. Vanez mouthed "Are they there." I nodded and mouthed "About thirty." He nodded and signalled the rest of the group to head back up the mountain. Vanez and I ran into the hall of princes, which almost nobody was allowed to leave or enter. Vanez went straight to the point and told the princes where they were.

Vanez explained that they had an easy escape to the outside. Mika, who in my opinion is a sad old git, he is also a prince said that we could position men outside. I interrupted there "No, it's too steep," He sighed and I smirked. I said "But I guess I could go outside, I can control rock so I can keep my footing, but I wouldn't be able to do that for more than two people, I don't have much experience with controlling rock." He nodded "You are an invaluable asset to the vampire clan," I nodded and smiled and said "Thank you,"

Every time the vampire princes come up with a plan, Vanez put a problem with it. I sat back trying to think so I didn't really listen to the rest of the conversation. Darren put forward a plan that everyone liked. He walked over and sat next to me. We both said, smirking, at the same time "Operation Arachnid!"


	25. Chapter 25

Darren, Mr. Crepsley and Seba needed to go and get the spiders! They left to go down the mountain and I needed to go outside the mountain. I got outside and walked as quiet as possible to the outside of the cave they were in. I jumped on top of the entrance and sat, waiting, watching.

Darren came shortly after I got there. He was controlling a massive army of spiders. I put two fingers in my mouth and blew on them, it sounded like a bird so there was no worry about the vampaneze. He heard and came to perch next to me. We waited for the perfect moment to strike; it had to be when the sun rises. A little after three hours, Darren blew mutely on his flute and ordered his spiders to spread out across the entrance of the cave, they scuttled along the snow to a perfect position. After a few minutes of fumbling about the spiders were in the right place so Darren sent them in. He slipped down closer the tunnel whereas I jumped off the roof completely, but silently and hid behind a rock. I had made Misty wait inside the mountain because I know that this could be dangerous for her.

As I was thinking about Misty I heard the chaos unravel. I peeked out from behind the rock and had to stifle a laugh because there were massive men, screaming and running around in terror like little girls. Seba and Mr. Crepsley's spiders slid out form the crevices in the walls and wrecked havoc. Darren wasn't meant to fight but I was so I jumped out and let loose a fury of arrows, I went in and retrieved my arrows, slicing vampaneze with my knives as I went along. I gathered the arrows and left the cave just in time to see Darren spearing one of the vampaneze that had fled. He looked sullen and collapsed on the floor in a miserable heap. I climbed back on top of the cave and saw a quivering vampaneze burning in the sunlight. When he saw me he curled up into an even smaller ball.

I knew that the vampaneze had been here on their own accord to try and make piece. This vampaneze looked young and more human than vampaneze, he was small and looked very timid but just by looking at him I could tell he had an honest heart. I tapped him on the shoulder, he flinched and stuttered "P...please d...don't hurt me." I smiled at him and said kindly "It's alright, here," I handed him the cloak I was wearing so he could protect himself from the sun. He sat up and wrapped the cloak around him. "Thank you, but why are you not killing me?"He asked. I said back to him "I'm not a vampire," I frowned and touched the side of his stomach, which had a huge knife wound, that must have been from me. He flinched when I touched it. "I can heal it," I assured him. I melted the snow next to me and made it so that it could heal. I put the water against the wound. It healed it but left a scar on his purple skin. I finished healing and said "I know you came here by choice, now go, quickly, before you die, flit." He nodded and said "Thank you, if you wanted to know my name it's Dameon" I nodded and smiled and off he flitted.

As soon as the vampaneze left, Darren climbed up next to me. "You alright?" I asked, he just nodded and looked down at the floor. Suddenly, vampires charged into the cave and attacked. The spearists came in a brutal first wave and then came the others. The spiders retreated. The vampires were now all over the cave and cutting down the vampaneze faster and faster.

Arrow, the vampaneze-hating prince, loved the action; he was mowing vampaneze down left, right and centre. He took out at least three vampaneze every time he threw his boomerang. I walked in the cave and almost cried out at what I saw. Bodies, everywhere, heads smashed in, insides carved out. Those that were still alive with flesh wounds but were dying I rushed over to help. I always had water with me so I could heal them.

I turned around and saw Arra fighting the one called Glalda with the birthmark on his cheek. I watched them, ready to help Arra. Mr. Crepsley shouted something to her; she started to reply but was cut short when she found a sword stabbed into her stomach. She cried out in pain and slumped to the floor. He was about to make a brutal end of her when I lashed out. Arra had been one of my best friends, she understood me, she helped me train and she looked out for me. I ran at full throttle into the vampaneze and managed to knock him down. I said to him fiercely "Now you don't get killed by her, you get killed by me, a human girl." I laughed evilly and stuck the dagger into his throat, I twisted it just the way he twisted the sword in Arra's stomach. I had no regret for doing that. I shouted to Darren "Pass me the cream!" He chucked it and I caught it in midair. I knelt down next to her and said "This should help," She smiled and said "You would make one of the finest vampires I would have ever met." I smiled and said "Arra, nobody here is half the vampire you are." She smiled and let me rub the cream into the side of her wound. I lifted her up and carried her outside of the cave where she could rest without seeing her companions murdered.

The battle was drawing to a brutal end. There were about six vampaneze left and each one had to either dye or kill a circle of vampires. I was daydreaming when I heard a blood-curdling yell and I knew who it belonged to, Vanez Blane. He had one good eye, now he had none. One of the fleeing vampaneze had thrown a dagger, the dagger missed Vanez, but not his good eye. Seba led him out of the cave. I looked around at the wreckage that had been caused. Two of the three wolves were chewing a living vampaneze and the other was lying in the corner, anger frozen on its face.

Paris Skyle relieved Mika and killed the last few vampaneze. The fight came to a halt and all the bodies were taken away and all the injured vampires were taken away to try and get better. Arra was one of them. I had been with her the whole time and I was not leaving now. She got picked up and laid on a bear skin stretcher.

Arra asked Mr. Crepsley to make sure that Darren wasn't killed. Mr. Crepsley promised and was crying. Tears were drenching my cheeks. She was taken into the medical rooms. I yelled at them until they let me in to help. I used the cream again, that didn't work, I used healing water, that didn't work. I cried as she looked at me. She whispered "I guess we'll never have our rematch." I smiled and said "We will one day, you have my word." She smiled and looked at the ceiling as if seeing the moon and stars. She let out her final breath. I cried on her body and whispered to her "Bye Arra,"

I walked outside the medical room and found Mr. Crepsley waiting, terror was eating away at him. He grabbed my arm and said "Is she alright?" I did nothing. He said louder this time "Is she alright?!" A single tear slid down my cheek as I said "She's gone." He fell to the floor and cried. I started crying to and ran back to my room.

I jumped onto my hammock, tears flowed freely. I could have done more to save her, I knew what was going to happen yet I didn't stop it! It's like Sam Grest all over again. I heard the door open and saw Darren walk in; his eyes were red, like he was upset. He had hold of a guitar. He handed it to me and said "We are all upset, play something, it always makes us feel better," I nodded, wiped my eyes and took the guitar from him. I decided to play a song from one of my favourite Disney films from when I was little. I started playing and sang:

When can we do this again?  
>When can I see you again?<br>When can we do this again?  
>When can I see you again?<br>When can we do this again?  
>When can I see you again?<p>

Switch on the sky and the stars glow for you  
>Go see the world 'cause it's all so brand new<br>Don't close your eyes 'cause your future's ready to shine  
>It's just a matter of time, before we learn how to fly<br>Welcome to the rhythm of the night  
>There's something in the air you can't deny<p>

It's been fun but now I've got to go  
>Life is way too short to take it slow<br>But before I go and hit the road  
>I gotta know, 'til then,<br>when can we do this again?  
>Oh oh oh oh<br>When can I see you again?  
>Oh oh oh oh<br>When can we do this again?  
>Oh oh oh oh<br>I gotta know, when can I see you again?  
>(When can I see you again?)<p>

Joined at the hip, yeah your sidekick needs you  
>Life is a trip down the road that leads you<br>Look all around at all the mountains you haven't climbed  
>It's just a matter of time, before we learn how to fly<br>Welcome to the rhythm of the night  
>There's something in the air you can't deny<p>

It's been fun but now I've got to go  
>Life is way too short to take it slow<br>But before I go and hit the road  
>I gotta know, 'til then,<br>when can we do this again?  
>Oh oh oh oh<br>When can I see you again?  
>Oh oh oh oh<br>When can we do this again?  
>Oh oh oh oh<br>I gotta know,  
>When can I see you again?<p>

Don't close your eyes 'cause your future's ready to shine  
>It's just a matter of time, before we learn how to fly<br>Welcome to the rhythm of the night  
>There's something in the air you can't deny<br>So let me know before I wave goodbye

When can I see you again?  
>Oh oh oh oh<br>When can we do this again?  
>Oh oh oh oh<br>When can I see you again?  
>Oh oh oh oh<br>When can we do this again?  
>Oh oh oh oh<p>

Yeah, it's been fun but now I've got to go  
>Life is way too short to take it slow<br>But before I go and hit the road  
>Tell me when<br>When can I see you again?  
>When can I see you again?<br>Tell me when  
>When can I see you again?<p>

By the end of the song we were both smiling. Darren said to me "You have a talent and that was a great song." I nodded my head and said "Thank you," I needed to put the guitar back in the hall of gathering. I opened the door, there were about fifteen vampires leaning on the door. I folded my arms and said "What are you guys doing here?" They fell over themselves trying to get up. Eventually one of them said "We were listening, you cheered us all up." I unfolded my arms and helped up the vampires that were still on the floor. "Thank you." I said to them before I went to go and return the guitar.

When I got back to our room Darren wasn't there. I asked Harkat, who was now there, "Where's Darren?" He looked up and said "He...went back...down...to the...cave." I ran down to the cave where the fight had taken place. I walked up to Seba and Darren. They were discussing whether to let Madam Octa go or not. He decided to let her go. He found his flute on the floor but it looked like it had been stamped on. Seba asked me "Can you tell her she is free?" I nodded and bent down, I scooped up Madam Octa and her 'boyfriend' in my hand and said to her "You can go and live with him, you're free." She chirped happily. I said to the other spider "She's yours but be careful, she has a hot temper." He laughed and snuggled up to Octa. I put them back down on the floor and said to Seba "She knows, he knows, they are really happy." He clapped his hands and smiled, he said "Let us go back." We headed back up the mountain.

We walked back up and collapsed in our hammocks. I'm surprised we slept smoothly, seeing the heat of battle for the first time will not be forgotten. I had a long sleep. I woke up to the sound of the cell door closing. I looked up groggily; I was not a morning person at all! I only saw Darren crying and a red cape slip through the door. It was either Mr. Crepsley or Seba.

It was in fact Mr. Crepsley, Darren had told me. We walked to Mr. Crepsley's room. Darren slipped through quietly and woke Mr. Crepsley. He walked out, he looked years older. He was pale, his eyes were red, his clothes were dirty, his cape was ripped and he looked like all his years had come back to him at once. We walked down to the hall of princes to attend to Kurda's questioning. Each of the vampaneze were meant to be walked out and questioned. If they co-operated they would be executed straight away, if not, then they would be tortured until they did speak.

Kurda was first up. He was dragged out in chains, his eyes never left Darren, and he was smiling sadly, like he didn't mind what was happening. People pulled at his clothes and hair and kicked and punched him. He was brought in front of the princes, who spat him. I might leave, but I needed to tell him something. Kurda admitted to being in league with the vampaneze. People swore and yelled. While this was going on I took the chance to talk to him. I sent a mental mind message to him, "I managed to save one," He looked at me and let out a sigh. He managed to send a message back "Thank you, who was it." I looked at him sadly and said "I'm sorry I only managed to save one, his name was Dameon." He smiled a bit brighter and said "Thank you," I said back to him "I know everything, so that means I know they came here on their own will and that they were the only ones who wanted peace." I smiled, he smiled. He sent a message "Please don't let our race be the brutal animals they are." I smiled and nodded, I sent my final message "Even in death may you be triumphant." He smiled and gave a nod that nobody could see. I made the deaths touch sign, stood up and left.

I waited in my room for Darren to come back. He walked in and said "Why did you walk out?" I sighed glumly and answered "Because I don't like that sort of stuff." That was a complete barefaced lie. The truth was that I felt sorry for Kurda and didn't want to see him questioned and yelled at for telling the truth. Darren slumped onto his hammock. He looked at the floor and mumbled "The vampaneze lord is with them." I looked at him and said "I know, I know who he is and when he will come." That was a stupid thing to say! Darren looked at me furiously "WHAT?! Why didn't you tell anyone, this is like them most important thing that you know?" My eyes started watering. I snapped. I yelled back to him "Darren, don't you understand that I can't tell anyone, It will ruin everyone if I tell anyone before they are meant to know!" He sighed and murmured "I'm sorry; I forgot how cruel Destiny is." I walked over and sat next to him, I patted his back "It's okay, I have a hot temper, I'm not really mad." He smiled sadly. We just sat there in uncomfortable silence.

Darren left at night, when it was time for the funerals. I didn't go for any of them, I felt too bad. Darren had said to me that he was feeling terrible but he had no idea what I was feeling. I could have stopped Gavner's death by sending him back. I could have stopped Arra's death by interfering with her fight, and I could have saved her if I concentrated.

I only slinked into my hammock while Darren left the room. I managed to get into an uncomfortable sleep, plagued by nightmares.

I woke up and saw Darren sitting on his hammock. He looked over at me as I sat up. "Nightmares?" He asked. I nodded and replied "How did you know?" He said back "Because ever since I've been in here you have been yelling and tossing and turning, and you're coated in sweat." I rubbed my forehead. I sat up and yawned. I pulled on a jumper and wiped my arms and head with a towel to wipe up most the sweat. I realised that it was almost time for Darren's trial. I knew what would happen so I wasn't really bothered, but Darren was chewing his fingernails and breathing heavily. Two guards knocked on the door and said that the princes were ready for Darren to go and see them. Darren gave his bag to Harkat, which had his personal items in and the bag used to belong to our friend Sam Grest. Darren turned to me and said "Are you coming with us?" I shook my head and said "I haven't eaten for ages, I really need a meal." He nodded understandingly and said "Ok, wish me luck, I need it." I put my hands on his shoulders and said "Luck, Darren Shan." He walked out the door.

I walked to the hall of Kheldon Lurt and brought to a table a lot of food: fried rat, bread, bat broth, ale and some sort of raw meat. I cooked the meat myself because I didn't want to eat it raw! I ate slowly so it took me about an hour to eat my meal. Darren came stumbling in the hall followed by vampires of every shape, size and age. Darren walked over to me. I stood up and smiled "Sire," I gave a short bow, straightened up and punched him in the arm as hard as I could. He was on his back on the floor. I smiled and said to him "I'm the first one to knock you over as a prince." He smiled back. I looked up and realised everyone was staring at me angrily. I shrugged and chuckled "What? I'm not a vampire." All of a sudden everyone burst out laughing. We laughed and drunk the night away.


	26. Chapter 26

It had been six years since Darren had become a prince. In Vampire Mountain, I had trained with knives; I was only half human (and half wolf) so that is really all I can do. I also had a handmade bow and handmade arrows. For my, I think it was twenty-third, birthday I got a target from the vampires for practicing. Vampires thought it was dishonourable to kill from afar so I was a loner when it came to that. I had spent my time entertaining the vampires by playing guitar and singing. I helped Seba in the store-rooms and helped Darren and Mr. Crepsley with Darren's princely duties.

Darren had always tried to get information out of me but I never let anything slip. Darren had promised me that he would not tell anyone I knew about the vampaneze lord. I never trained anyone because I had such a hot temper that it would be impossible to keep my calm with others.

I walked to the hall of Kheldon Lurt where I saw Darren. Apart from when I was helping him I never actually saw him that often. When we finished eating we headed to the hall of princes. We planned battle strategies and then went to our room for some sleep.

I heard screaming, I knew it was Harkat and his nightmares straight away. I pulled a pillow over my head and listened as Darren fell out of his hammock and woke Harkat up. I lifted the pillow off of my head and looked at the two. Harkat looked like he was sewed together and Darren was covered in scars and burns. I was alright, I rarely fought because I spent most my time with Seba. I of course had my eye and the sleeve of tattoos on my arm and the burns on my leg. I had also picked up three long, deep scratched going diagonally along my back. It was from when Misty and I went hunting, we came across a bear that was starved.

We were in the hall of princes one day when apparently Mika was back after five years and he had word of the vampaneze lord. I knew what this 'word' was so I snuck down to the hall of Kheldon Lurt and grabbed buckets and barrels of ale and wine and five vats of blood. I carried them to the middle of the hall and waited. I waited for about ten minutes before a huge swarm of vampires poured into the hall. They were cheering and carrying Mika. They broke into the barrels faster than I could say drink up!

I was laughing at the sight of the vampires tripping over each other because they were so drunk. Darren finally decided to try and kill himself with a third barrel of ale. I walked over to him and put his arm around my shoulder. I laughed and said to him "I think we need to go back now," He looked at me and hiccupped. He said to me "You can't...make me," Another hiccup. "Yes I can," I said. He whined like a child and said "Nuh uh, I'm the prince!" I rolled my eyes "Yes, but you're not my prince." He stamped his foot and moaned "I'm the prince of ale!" I laughed and slung him over my shoulders. As I was walking back to our room he sang the song he always did when he was drunk. I walked into our room and said "Hi Harkat," Harkat looked up, waved and laughed when he saw Darren barely conscious on my shoulders. I chucked him on his hammock and climbed into my own. Harkat went out of the room. He put off sleep as long as possible due to his nightmares. Sleep was hard that night. I had to put Darren back in his hammock about a million times. Finally I gave up and let him sleep like a doorstop wedged between the door and doorframe.

Darren woke me up the next sunset by groaning. Harkat said that Seba wanted to see us. We got up and started walking. Darren asked where we were going. Harkat looked at me and smiled, he also knew that I 'knew things'. I smiled back; we had to practically drag Darren to the bathing halls. Harkat said that the cold water would help. Once Darren was out he said that it did help. I jumped in and washed; I dried myself off and slipped the bracelet off of my arm. I squeezed it in my hand and made it into a comb. I brushed the fur on my tail as we walked. Misty had been doing well; she aged about the same rate as I did.

We were going to go exploring. When the limping Seba heard we were exploring and said that he wanted to come with us and show us something. When we got deeper in the mountain Seba showed us a curious spider. Apparently it was one of Madam Octa's. They were not poisonous on their own and had agreed with Seba to not attack anyone. When Seba told us that these spiders had been sending the ticks up the mountain I exploded. I groaned and almost yelled at Seba "WHAT?! Seba, I have to comb my tail three times a day to get rid of the ticks!" He groaned. Because of this we promised not to tell anyone about the spiders.

Seba went back to the halls after showing us. We wandered around and we found a tunnel that led outside. Darren hadn't been out for two months, I come out with Misty all the time for hunting. Darren rubbed his arms and said "It's cold," Harkat and I said "Is it?" I didn't feel the cold but I felt heat more than anyone else. Harkat only felt extreme heat or extreme cold.

Darren was trying to find out what season it was when Harkat took off down the hill. Darren took off his shoes and ran. I sighed; I melted the snow and made a bubble around me. I froze it into ice and rolled down the hill. I melted the ice and stood up. My breath hitched as I saw Desmond Tiny walk out of dark canopy of the trees.

We walked back up to the mountain. We walked for about quarter of an hour in complete silence before we got to the guarded gate by the mountain. Mr. Tiny had a fun time freaking everybody out. We walked through the mountain. All vampires made the deaths touch and then followed behind us. When we walked past our room I went to go inside when Mr. Tiny said "You need to come with us Victoria." I sighed and followed like I was before.

Desmond spoke of the prophecy I knew so well. He told us that the three hunters would be Mr. Crepsley and Darren. They both agreed. He told us that they would meet the third on their journey. Vampires went to go and leave the hall of princes when Mr. Tiny said "However," Everyone turned back around. He carried on "There is a weight to winning or losing," Everybody held their breath, including me, I didn't know this part? He carried on "There is a powerful girl, if the you can keep her on your side, she will make sure you have a better chance of winning." Everyone cheered, then he, once again, carried on "However," Groaning, "If the vampaneze get her on their side, then they have a greater chance of winning." Everybody looked around the hall, murmuring was heard. Desmond finally said "That girl will be Victoria Hale," People looked around, I ducked down. Desmond looked directly at me and said "Victoria, you can stay here or accompany the hunters." I looked around the hall for advice. Mika said "Vix, you are respected but if you leave there is a chance that you will join the vampaneze." I shook my head and said so all the hall could hear "You all know how I fight; I will take Misty for extra defence. Mika, I will never join the vampaneze. I do not hate them, I admire them in some aspects but my loyalty lies with the vampire clan." Cheers ran throughout the hall. I turned and said to Desmond Tiny "I will go with the hunters." He nodded and said "That is all."

Mr. Tiny made everyone in the hall leave. He propped himself up on Darren's throne. He beckoned us over. We walked over. Harkat agreed to come with us. He dismissed them but said I had to stay. He said to me "I know that you know," I nodded; he carried on "You can tell them." I smiled, but then remembered something, I said sadly but smugly to Desmond "That is not how Destiny works. They can't find out, if they do, everything will change. I am trying to keep it the way I know it should, I have only seen one 'path' and it's a good one, and you won't change my mind." He smiled and said "Clever girl, you are dismissed, send Mika back in, I will be going now." I nodded and walked out the hall. Everyone was there, I sighed and said to everyone "I can't tell you!" They all groaned and walked away. I grabbed Mika by the arm before he could leave and said "You need to be in there, Desmond is gone." He nodded and went inside the hall.

We got a day's rest and I got woken up three hours before sunset by Harkat and Darren. I woke up Misty and grabbed my duffel bag holding all of my belongings. We said our goodbyes and within two hours we were running down the mountain.

We had to head to Lady Evanna's house first; Mr. Crepsley knew where she was.


	27. Chapter 27

I loved being out of the mountain and so did Misty. I could tell Darren loved it and Mr. Crepsley, well; he looked as sour as ever. One night we were sitting around a fire, I was cooking meat when Darren started talking about Vampire Mountain. I ignored it but had to answer when Darren asked me about Vampire Mountain. I sat up and the tree stump and said "I loved it with the vampires although I don't think I was accepted." Mr. Crepsley gave me a smile and said "They accept you, you would have been a vampire of the best standing, they respected you and you respected them." I smiled brightly and said "Thanks." I didn't feel like Darren when it came to Mr. Crepsley. For Darren, he was like a father, for me, he was my fighting trainer.

We walked past the mountains and finally chanced across human settlements. We had spent ages with clear, clean air and had always listened to the quiet sounds of nature. I had trained as a vampire so now my hearing and sight was about the same as Darren's. Know we were in a town my senses were running wild, especially my sense of smell.

We travelled out of the town. Darren's itching was getting worse and worse since the mountain. I was packing my stuff into the duffel bag when I heard someone shout "Charna's guts!" A hairy man ran towards us, who was he? Oh yeah, I remember now. "Stop," Yelled Mr. Crepsley. Harkat jumped next to him and ripped off his mask. Darren showed his hands, no weapons, and said "Don't...attack! It's...me!" Mr. Crepsley gasped and groaned, he muttered "The purge!" I let out the giant laugh I had been holding in, tears ran down my face. Darren walked up to me and said "What's so funny?" He tried to say it menacingly but it didn't work. I wiped my tears and said "You look like that," I burst out laughing again.

I decided to leave Darren and Mr. Crepsley to talk about the purge. I went for a jog with Misty.

I got back where Darren and Mr. Crepsley were talking about how his body would age. I looked about fifteen now for some reason so Darren looked younger than me. Darren turned to me and said "We will finally look the same age!" I smiled and said "Great!" I was excited that Darren would look the same age; it looked it a bit weird when you saw us otherwise.

Darren's senses were even worse now. One day he said "Ugh, I can smell everything! Is this what your sense of smell is like?" I laughed and said "Yes, it is." He groaned and said "Remind me never to tease you about that or Harkat with his lack of taste buds! Do you know how everything tastes?!" I giggled and said "Hmmmmm, like cardboard with sick on it." He groaned and said "Exactly!" He did look older and it was annoying at night when he had to grind his teeth so that they didn't overgrow. He was dizzy and had a lot of headaches. I managed to help that a little with my healing water. It was also annoying when he got his bursts of energy. He would run ahead, and then back, then ahead, then back again. After six weeks of dealing with that his purge left him. His hair stopped growing apart from on his head. He wasn't bald anymore so that was good. He looked about fifteen as well, he stopped growing.

Darren had now grown out of almost all his clothes so we stopped at an army surplus store. Before he went in he asked me "Do you need anything or do you want to come in?" My knives were slightly rusty so I guess I could buy some more now. We walked in; the shelves were lined with guns of every sort. There was a small corner for knives and a small corner stuffed with clothes. There was a burly man with sunglasses and a beard at the counter.

I picked out some knives and brought them to the desk. I also grabbed a sort of water bottle which has string on it so you can wear it around and keep water with you, that would be useful since it is hard to get water out of other thing. Normally someone would ask you if you were old enough to by them but he just said "Just these?" I nodded and handed over the money. He gave me the knives. I went to go out the door when I remembered my rusty knives. I took them out of my belt and asked the person behind the counter "Can you take these please." He nodded and took them from my hands.

I walked out and passed somebody else walking into the store. He knocked my shoulder so I growled. He turned around to face me. I took in his features and gasped when I saw that he had two small tattoos of V's over his ears, the mark of the vampets. The vampets were human assistants of the vampaneze so they could use long range weapons and are not bound by truth because vampaneze only tell the truth.

I walked back to the camp on the outskirts of a small town. Harkat and Mr. Crepsley were eating some raw meat. I said to them "I bought some knew knives." Mr. Crepsley swallowed the food in his mouth and said "You should test them out." I nodded and walked over to a tree next to the camp. I sliced and struck the tree. The knives' handles were not broken in yet so I would need to use them a lot to do that and they were strong but light, that was the main thing, they were also sharp. I strung the water bottle around my waist so it hung at my side. I pulled water out of the tree and made it flow into the bottle. I walked back to camp and said to Mr. Crepsley "They're good." He nodded and said "I know, I saw you practicing, you fight well." I put the knives in my belt and said "Thanks," Darren suddenly ran into camp and started talking about a guy that saw his scars and knew what he was. Harkat said "They may just be...human, or a vampire." I stood up and said "Or a vampet."

We knew that we were being followed from the start, I smelt them, Mr. Crepsley heard them and Darren saw them. There were either three or four. They moved quietly and trailed a little behind where we were.

Mr. Crepsley guessed that they would attack by daylight and that we would have to pretend to sleep. When Mr. Crepsley suggested this I let my anger take control and growled "I say we wait until they are sleeping and break their necks." Mr. Crepsley answered "No, they should bring the fight to us." I nodded sadly, clearly defeated. The next day we were hiding under the shade of the trees. We spent the day pretending to sleep, breathing deeply and keeping our eyes closed.

After midday they attacked. I heard them coming closer and closer, there were four of them, all big burly men. Mr. Crepsley yelled "NOW!" He leapt at the nearest target with his knife in hand. Darren and Harkat jumped at the two nearest to them. I guess the biggest one of all was mine.

He raised his gun and fired, luckily I managed to jump out the way. This guy was way bigger than me and he looked like he ate kittens for breakfast. I grabbed my knife and swiftly through it at his knee. It hit. He fell over and tried to grip the handle of the knife; his hands were slippery with blood so that was difficult. I seized the moment and grabbed my bow and an arrow. I put the notch against the string and pulled back. He looked up and left the knife in his knee. He asked in confusion "How...but you're a vampire, you can't use that." I smiled and said sweetly "I'm human." He groaned from the pain in his knee. I shot the arrow, head shot. His limp body fell over and hit the floor. I pulled the arrow out of his head, cleaned it off and put it into my satchel. I tried pulling the knife out of his knee but it wouldn't budge, I needed help. I shouted, still looking at the knife, "Can someone help me with this?!" Mr. Crepsley and Darren walked over. Mr. Crepsley examined the knife and put his foot on the man's leg. He took a firm hold of the knife and pulled it out. He handed it to me so I cleaned it off and put it back in my belt.

Suddenly I was on the floor with someone hunched over me. "A bow and Arrow?!" He yelled. I nodded. As my eyes adjusted to the sun I had been pushed into I saw a brown-toothed man dressed in purple hides and with green hair. I looked at him and raised my eyebrows. "You can't use those!" He yelled again. I got up and said "Yes I can," Brushing myself off. "No you c..." Mr. Crepsley put his hand on the vampire prince Vancha March and said calmly "Vix here is human." Vancha calmed down and said "Oh, sorry." I shook my head and said "It's fine; I only used the bow and arrow because he was twice the size of me and is probably stronger than me." Vancha nodded and said "I understand, smart thinking."

I sniffed Vancha, he smelt like a wolf. I did my special whistle; Misty appeared not a moment later. I stroked her fur and said to her "This is the prince, Vancha, be nice." She laughed and said "Me? Nice? Hah." I laughed and looked up at Vancha, he was looking in confusion. Mr. Crepsley cleared it up and said "She is also half wolf." He shook his head and said "She can't be." I said "Really?" I then proceeded to let my tail unwrap. He gasped; I laughed and said "That's not all." I took off the hair band I always wore and wrapped it around my wrist, my ears twitched from being under the hair band so long. He gasped and said "Ok, I believe you." I left my tail out and kept my hair band off as well.

We slept for the rest of the day and left just before sunset. It took us about a week to get to Lady Evanna's home. Darren wanted to train with Vancha because Vancha fought with his hands even against armed opponents.

I hadn't used my talents since we met Vancha so he still didn't know that I could control the elements. One day while Darren and he were training he shouted "Hey Vix, do you want to train with us?!" I shouted back "Nah, as long as there is rock or dirt I'm good." He walked over and said "What do you mean?" I laughed and said "I'll show you." I stood up and chucked my weapons to the side. "No weapons, but I can make them." I made the dirt on the floor fly into the air and make a dagger shape and harden. It fell from the air; I caught it and showed it to Vancha. He held it and said "What was that?" I shrugged and said "I can control the elements." He looked confused so I said "That was Earth, now water." I uncorked the bottle. The water snaked out of the bottle and made an ice dagger in the air, I handed it to Vancha. Then I said "There is not really anything I can do with the air but I can do this with fire." I made the whip like I always did out of the fire and said "I can't really make much out of fire." He nodded and said "Well, you're good, so here." He handed the two knives back to me. I held them and made the rock one turn back to dirt and the ice one turn back to water and go back into the bottle.

I really liked Vancha, he was a good vampire, was good at fighting and he was funny in a sarcastic way. He also liked to have occasional battled with the sun. He would walk around in the sun for an hour every day because he wanted vampires to evolve to be able to beat the sun.

We got to Lady Evanna's in a full moon, it was beautiful, and it was a clear night so you could see every single star shining brightly. There was a pond, a clear, round pond. On the opposite side of the pond there was a hill, in that hill was a cave. We walked past the pond which was filled with frogs. I let one of the frogs jump on my hand and asked it "How is Evanna?" He replied "She is fine." I nodded and put the frog back down on the floor. I quickly said to Misty "Don't touch them, they are poisonous." She obeyed and was careful. Vancha told Darren and Harkat the same thing. We had to wait for Evanna on a bench outside her cave. It was silent until Vancha asked me "I heard you croaking to a frog, what's that about?" I said back "I can speak to animals." He whistled and said "So let me get this straight, you are half wolf, you can control the elements and you can speak to animals?" I nodded and said "Yup." He smiled and said "That's a lot to deal with." I shook my head "Not really, I have gotten used to it." He then asked "Excuse me for asking, but what happened to your eye?" I touched the scar running over my eye and sighed, I said to him "Desmond Tiny." He said nothing, just looked at the floor and did nothing.

Darren asked why we didn't go in straight away. Mr. Crepsley explained why and that she also had a hot temper, he also said that she would not kill a vampire. When he said this I said "What about me," He just coughed uncomfortably and said nothing. Oh great!


	28. Chapter 28

Evanna let us in shortly after. She was large and hairy and only wore ropes around herself, she had to small eyes over her moustache, which were small and were brown and green, they switched every few minutes though. We introduced ourselves, Darren was nervous and Harkat, not so much. When it came to me I just bowed my head and said curtly "Lady Evanna," She was impressed with that. She talked about Darren; of course he called her a witch, the name she hated and the name we told him not to call her at least a million times the way here. She blamed the vampires for this and got mad at them but didn't want to leave a 'bad' first impression. Darren laughed at them when they quivered like babies and I couldn't help but laugh at them as well. She spun on us and turned into a massive hairy beast, she lunged and growled. Darren almost squished a frog. I didn't even flinch. She snapped her fingers and turned back to her normal self. She studied me and said "Why did you not flinch like Darren?" I smiled and said "Looks can be deceptive." She smiled and turned to Mr. Crepsley then said "I like this girl." Darren then asked "How come you could change like that?" She went on to explain how she is a sorceress and defiantly not a witch. She then shimmered and glowed into a beautiful woman. Darren couldn't stop staring. I elbowed him in the ribs and said "Calm down, this is how Mr. Crepsley got his scar." He snapped out of his trance and said "Huh?" Mr. Crepsley had never told anyone about his scar. Evanna smiled at me and said "Smart girl." I smiled and nodded my head. I looked over at Mr. Crepsley who was now bright red.

We talked about how Evanna bred frogs to make faces on their backs. I saw a familiar face and croaked. The frog hopped over and onto my hand. I held it up and said "It's you Darren." He stood up from the frog he was examining and looked. He smiled and said "That's really cool." I put the frog down and said to it "Sorry if I annoyed you, you can go back to what you were doing." The frog nodded her thanks and croaked, then hopped off. Evanna looked at me and said "You are very talented." I smiled and said "I assume you know what I can do," She thought for a moment then said "You are half wolf, you can, to some extent, tell the future; you can control the elements and talk to animals." I nodded and said to Misty, who had been shying away from Evanna, "It's alright, this is Evanna." Misty nodded and walked over to Evanna. Evanna bent down low and said to me "She is beautiful." I translated for Misty. She yelped happily and licked Evanna's hand.

She apologised about Arra's death and croaked to nine frogs. They arranged themselves into a certain formation. On each frog back there was a section of Arra's face. Together they were a spitting image of Arra; Evanna had spent more time on these frogs. Mr. Crepsley went completely silent and stared at the frogs. A single tear ran down my cheek and it the floor. I wiped my eyes and asked Evanna "Should we leave him?" She nodded and out her finger to her lips, signalling for us to be quiet. She pointed to the door and gestured for us to go in.

We walked through the heavy stone door and walked into a massive room. There was a long table in the centre and what looked like a kitchen in the far side of the cave. There were red velvet sofas and tapestries hung around the room. On the table were many platters of fruit and vegetables. Vancha objected to there being no meat. He was a 'traditionalist' so he only ate raw meat and only ever drank milk, water or blood. Vancha tried to bring up official business but Evanna would have none of it.

Vancha told Darren about where Evanna had come from. There was a vampire and a vampiress. They wanted a child. They were mated; vampires agree to 'marry' temporarily for a certain period of time. The wife died so the vampire followed Desmond Tiny around until he agreed to let him have a child. Mr. Tiny didn't give in for two-hundred years. The last part of Vancha's story was "Eventually for reasons of his own Tiny relented. He said he'd create a woman capable of bearing a vampire's child, but added a catch-the woman and her children would either make the clan more powerful than ever...or destroy us completely! The vampire, named Corza, was troubled by Tiny's words, but he had sought too long and hard to be dissuaded by the threat. He agreed to Tiny's terms, and let him take some of his blood. Tiny mixed Corza's blood with a pregnant she-wolf and worked his magic on her. The wolf gave birth to four cubs. Two looked like wolves and were born dead, but the other two were alive-and human in appearance. One was a boy, the other was a _girl_!" Darren looked at me in confusion so I gestured to Evanna. He gasped; he and Harkat asked her questions. Then she sent us to bed and said she would speak to us in the morning.

I was feeling drained of my energy yet I didn't know why. I slinked out of bed and walked to wear I heard talking. Misty didn't look like she felt tired but she was hungry, she wasn't able to eat at the meal the day before because Evanna didn't have any meat. I walked into the kitchen and slumped into a spare seat. Evanna walked over and said "Stay still," I did as she said as she looked in my mouth and examined the whites of my eyes. She thought for a moment before saying "You need meat." I looked at her as if to say 'why?' She understood and said "You are half wolf and half human so the human side of you will eat veg but the animal side needs to be fed as well. If not the animal will take over." I asked her "What do you mean by that?" She smiled and said "You have never had a good temper but the animal makes it ten times worse, so if you go to long without eating meat then you will get very agitated very quickly." I stood up and said "Ok, I'll go and hunt." Vancha stood up and said "No, I've finished my meal, you start yours, and I'll go hunt." I thanked him as he walked out the door.

I ate some food but felt full straight away. Misty whined of hunger the entire time. I was still eating when Darren asked Evanna "Are there different types of magic?" She laughed and said "Of course, Vix can perform one type." The food I was holding fell from my hand. I gulped down my food and said "Excuse me?" While I picked up the food I had dropped, she explained "Elemental magic, you are quite good at it, not fully trained, but you are good with it, it is just water you haven't fully learnt to control yet." I went to go and sit up but I wacked my head on the table as soon as I tried. I got up carefully this time and asked "Why, what is the next stage of water?" She smiled and answered "To control other liquids." I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding and said "How do I learn?" She thought for a moment and just said "Practice." She showed Darren's glass, which had coke in. Wait, how did she get coke? Oh well. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I heard a gasp, I opened my eyes and floating in the air was a bubble of coke. I put it back in his glass and said "Wow," I was extra tired now. As if on cue Vancha walked in, with a massive slab of meat slung over his shoulder. I fell out my chair and ran over to him, grabbed it, sat on the floor and devoured it. I was about to finish the last piece when I caught sight of Misty. I chucked the meat at her and walked back over to my chair. Evanna chuckled and asked "Better?" I nodded. Vancha whistled and said "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

Evanna started to talk about our journey but I got up and said "I'm going for a walk." Vancha said surprised "Don't you want to hear this." Evanna shushed him and said "It's alright, she knows already." Vancha's jaw dropped, I winked and waved goodbye. I walked out of the cave and went for a walk. A few frogs trailed after me for a while but more of them went back to their pond the further I walked. I had a walk for about half an hour before I walked back to Evanna's cave. I got bored so ran, after the meat I noticed I was running quite a bit faster.

I walked back in to Evanna saying who could kill the vampaneze lord. She said anyone can kill him, and then she added on the end "Except you." She pointed at me. I was looked forward to breaking the vampaneze lord's neck! Damn.

She was going to accompany us to the next part of our journey. She went to pack her things and we were off. It was about half an hour shy of sunset. We decided to go to the cirque du freak.


	29. Chapter 29

Mr. Crepsley used his vampire-physic-thing to pinpoint Mr. Tall's brainwaves. We walked for about a week before we got to a large city. Vancha didn't like human transport systems so we walked the whole way. One day Harkat was having another nightmare, he had put off sleep for about a week before he collapsed one day. I woke up and saw Darren and Evanna with their hands on the screaming Harkat. I knew what was happening; they were temporarily stopping his nightmares. I walked over as quietly as I could as to not disturb them. I watched them for a while before I saw Darren flinch, he must have seen Harkat's dream. I heard Evanna reassure Darren when he flinched again. After another few seconds, she said that he could open his eyes. Then he asked about the dark shadowed figure he saw in Harkat's dream. She said that he was a person in the future. She said to him "The future is dark Darren, there are two paths, and both are winding and troubled, paved with the souls of the dead. In one of the possible futures, the vampaneze lord has become the master of shadows...and in the other...in the other the master of shadows...is you." Darren gasped and fell back. I helped him up, he hadn't realised I was there until now. Evanna added on the end "Vix knows of this." He looked at me in anger and quietly (The others were asleep) yelled "You didn't tell me?!" I led down and said "It's not my destiny." He grumbled "You always say that!" I closed my eyes and said before I went to sleep "Because it always applies."

We got to the cirque a few nights later. It was the end of the show so I saw Evra's act. There was now a small boy with him. The boy resembled Evra, Evra was the boy's father, and the boy was called Shancus. We went back stage. Darren and I said in unison "Hi," He whirled around. As he saw us he smiled the biggest smiled I have ever seen. He yelled "Darren, Vix!" We laughed and threw our arms around him. Mr. Crepsley introduced our companions to Evra. We must have looked weird to him, he could pass as our father yet we were the same age. First he introduced Vancha, then Evanna...then Harkat. Harkat spoke and said "Hi, Evra," Evra gasped and stuttered. We spent so much time hunting for the little people and Evra had never heard one speak before. Mr. Tall suddenly appeared behind us and welcomed us. Darren and I nodded our heads because he is not so keen on shaking hands.

Mr. Tall invited us to dinner with the cirque, we agreed. Evra said to Darren as we were walking "I would like you to meet Shancus." Shancus managed to catch up with us. Evra explained that Shancus was his first born. This came as a big surprise to Darren. He then said that he had married another freak called Merla that could detach her ears and use them as boomerangs. We followed Evra and Shancus to where we would eat some dinner.

I could easily see that Darren loved it; he had been very secluded for the last week. We sat around a fire and saw all of our friends. I loved this, I liked it with the vampires but I never felt I belonged. I looked around and saw everyone that I cared for; I would die if anything happened to any of them.

Evra introduced us to Merla, she was very kind. She showed us her boomerang ears. Darren thought they were great. But you should have seen his face when she offered to let him have a go at throwing them. We all spent the night talking and catching up with old friends. Harkat spent his night with Shancus because everybody else felt awkward around him and Vancha spent his time with Truska. Mr. Crepsley looked happy but he only smiled when people thought that he wasn't looking. I could tell that he was extremely upset when he told others that he wasn't staying. Later in the night Evanna went away with Mr. Tall to talk about whatever it was that they needed to. Misty hid behind my legs until she found Shancus, who played with her. We walked to a tent besides Evra's and got a good day sleep after we had strung up some hammocks.

We slept from just before sunrise to just before sunset. Evra came to wake me up; I groaned at put the pillow over my head. He laughed and said "Still not a morning person?" I groaned again and pulled the pillow down even more. I heard, muffled, someone say "I know!" Suddenly I was tipped out of the hammock by Darren. I groaned and threw a pillow at him. He ducked swiftly out of the way and laughed. I got up off the floor. It was a warm day so it seemed boiling to me so I slept in shorts and a vest top. As I got untangled with the blanket Evra gasped and said "What happened to the rest of your markings?" I shrugged and said "Tiny took them away." He nodded, but I could tell that he didn't know what I was talking about.

That night while we were having dinner, or breakfast for us, Truska handed out sausages, my favourite! Mr. Tall asked if we wanted to perform. Mr. Crepsley didn't have Madam Octa anymore so he and Darren were going to perform magic tricks. Mr. Tall then turned to me and said "Would you like to perform tonight Vix?" I smiled brightly and nodded "Yeah!" Evra smiled and said "Shancus hasn't seen what you can do, would you care to show him." I smiled and nodded. Shancus asked me "So what can you do." I smiled and said "A lot of things, I can control fire, water, air and earth and I can speak to animals and tell the future." He looked in awe and said "What is my future?!" I looked worried but snapped out of it and said "You'll have to find out." He shouted "Enough talking, show me!" I laughed as everyone around the fire cheered.

I ran through my normal act, he loved it. I made strawberries grow out of the ground and did my juggling trick with fire. I made a big glob of water in the air and dropped it on top of him before pulling the water out of his hair and clothes. I completely dried his hair by making the wind blow it. I then talked to his snake and Misty in their language. He was wide-eyed when I finished. He exclaimed "That was amazing!" He called his snake back, which was coiled around my arms, and made her coil around his arms.

When I said I would perform Truska's face lit up as she told me in her native tongue "I have your old costume, would you like me to get it?" I nodded, I always loved that costume. She offered for Darren to have his pirate costume back and his hair cut.

We walked to Truska's tent. I sat on the bed while Darren came out. He walked out and asked "You like?" I nodded and gave a thumb up, and then it was my turn. I went to the back of the tent, I was the about the same size so my old costume fit me. Next she needed to do my hair. It now went to just below my waist because I spent so long at Vampire Mountain. She washed it, then brushed it, then cut it, then styled it. It was now still very long, it was now just above my waist. She dried it and pulled it into a side fishtail plait. When it was done it looked very nice.

I walked to Evra and asked "How do I look?" He smiled and said "Great." I smiled and went to find Darren. I found him hiding behind Mr. Tall's trailer. I walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped and whirled around. He said agitated "Don't do that!" I put my hands up and said "Fine, now, are we going to find Evanna and find out what she is doing, because I'm betting that vampires won't like it!" He nodded.

We followed Evanna quietly and stayed a long way behind her. She came to a dark forest. We waited for her to go in. I climbed up the first tree I found. When I was half way up I heard Darren say "What are you doing?" I sighed angrily and said back down to him "Would you rather be up in the trees if they see you, or down on the floor." He nodded and said "Trees." I said back "Come on then!" I climbed the rest of the tree, which was very tall. We leapt from treetop to treetop, staying hidden in the canopy.

We came to a stop when we saw a group of people, Evanna was sitting with them. We were at the top of the trees but we couldn't hear what they were talking about. I stayed up in the trees because I wasn't as quiet and as sure-footed as a vampire so Darren went down instead. I heard hushed tones and smelt something I had smelt all too often. Suddenly I saw a light before someone else put it out. Those few seconds of light showed me purple skin and red lips, drawn back into a vicious snarl.

I could tell by the way Darren ran that he went to tell the others. I followed him but through the trees. I jumped down and ran over to him. I said to him "You can't do the show, get Larten and Vancha. I'll do the show." He nodded and we ran back to camp. The show was just about to start when I got back.

I did my performance and then said that I had to leave. Mr. Tall understood and said "Good luck." I smiled and left. I walked into Mr. Crepsley's tent to see Vancha grinning maniacally. I smiled and said "Can I come?" They nodded.

We were going to kill those vampaneze but for some reason I didn't want to, I just had a gut feeling that I needed to go.

When we got there we made plans. There were about nine of them. I suddenly said "I'm sorry, I can't fight right now." Vancha looked annoyed "Why not?!" I growled "Because using as much as my powers as I did in the show made me feel weak and tired!" He looked at me with a hard to read expression on his face before he finally said "Then why did you want to come." I thought about my answer before answering "Because I need to speak to Evanna." They nodded and discussed plans further.

They told me to climb up a tree to evade being heard. I shimmied up a tree while they closed in on the group from four different angles. I waited in the leaves of the tree until I heard screaming and cursing that meant that Vancha had thrown his shurikens. I waited until I heard swords clashing and then I jumped down from the top of the tree that I was perched on. I landed next to Evanna, who was sitting and watching the fighting with no interest, and sat down next to her. I said to her "Why do they need to be violent, their people would be a whole lot better if they listened, but they are on a 'kill first, ask questions later' thing." She chuckled dryly. Suddenly a vampaneze's body fell next to me. I caught it before it hit the floor, closed his eyes and made the deaths touch sign before laying him gently on the floor. Evanna looked at me and said "You are different," I looked at her and said "How?" She smiled and said "You are kind to your ally's enemy." I smiled and said "That's because they didn't choose their destiny and I know they are good people." She chuckled and said "That's what I like about you, you can think from another person's shoes."I nodded thanks and got up and said to her "Fights over." I walked into the forest to find Darren's thumb, it was cut off during the fight. I found it and stitched it back on, then used some healing water on it so that it would take away some of the pain.

The servant with them and the vampaneze with the servant got away. Vancha revealed that the vampaneze's name was Gannen Harst, he was Vancha's brother. Evanna appeared, covered in the blood of the vampaneze and burst out laughing. Mr. Crepsley looked angry as he asked what was so funny.

Evanna kept laughing until Vancha asked us "Have you ever hit a woman." Darren smiled, Mr. Crepsley said "No," And I smiled and said "No, but I've broken ones arm before." The witch became serious as she explained that when people are trying to find something, they rarely look out in the open. Harkat looked grim as he said "The man in the robes ... was no servant," Evanna nodded sympathetically. She said "Vix knew it was him," I face palmed.

Mr. Crepsley and Vancha went red with rage and dove forward to attack me. They got in a few punches to my stomach before Darren and Evanna stopped them. Harkat just stood and watched the whole thing. Mr. Crepsley yelled at me "This is possibly the most important thing to the vampire clan!" A tear slid down my cheek as I yelled back "I know! I would tell you if I could, I worked out that if I tell anyone who he is then you will all die and the vampire clan will fall! Believe me, I wish I could pummel him into the ground but if I do so too early then humans, vampires and vampaneze will perish." By now tears were flowing freely. Evanna put a calming hand on my shoulder. I wiped the tears from my face and said "Thanks." She nodded and I turned back to the vampires. Vancha stuttered "I'm sorry, I didn't mean...I...sorry, I shouldn't meddle with destiny and it looks like you're trying your best not to." I thanked him and said "Now, let's focus on the lord of the vampaneze."

We walked back to camp, Vancha looked terrible. I tried to calm him but he just shrugged me and the others off. When we got back to camp I helped heal their wounds, Mr. Crepsley was fine, Harkat had an arm that was shredded and in a sling and Darren's thumb needed checking so that it didn't get infected.

We went to bed after trying to cheer ourselves up after the fight. I slept through the entire day and in the evening I heard that Vancha had tried to kill himself in the sun. He thought that his chance had passed and that he would be better off to the clan, dead. But Mr. Tiny said that the hunters would encounter the vampaneze lord four times, if they did not kill him then the vampire clan will fall.

I was eating breakfast when Darren came to tell me about what was going to happen. He said "Vancha is going to warn the princes about the lord's guard, Gannon, because he is the only guard that must stay. We are going to leave the cirque in case they come back, and I don't think it would be good if our friends got attacked as well.

Evra was sad when we left but Shancus was on the verge of tears. It was his birthday soon and he was hoping we would say. Darren and I said that we would try and find something for him while we were travelling. While we had been at the cirque, Misty had loved it because she knew people there and she was able to roam around by herself but now she was back on the road with us.

We left the camp. Mr. Tall was at the edge of camp and reassured us that we would always have a safe home here. We thanked him and said goodbye to Vancha who flitted to Vampire Mountain. We left, into the lonely darkness of the night.


	30. Chapter 30

We were in Mr. Crepsley's city. There had been bodies found and they weren't hidden. We had been wading round the tunnels underneath the city for any trace of the vampaneze for a few months. It was extra horrible for someone with an extra sensitive sense of smell. I can't even imagine how bad it was for Misty.

We jumped onto Mr. Crepsley back and carried Misty as Mr. Crepsley scaled the wall to get into the window. We had spent almost every day on the roofs, in the rain or in the sewers so it was less conspicuous, I didn't have to worry about Misty because before we left the cirque Mr. Tall had given me a licence to own her.

As I waited for the bath to fill I bathed Misty. I used water from a bowl from the sink and transformed my bracelet into a comb, like I always did, to brush her fur. I put her to bed and by the time I did that it was time for a bath because it had just finished running. I slid into the water and led in the warm water, it was the best part of the day. I washed my hair, got out, dried myself using my talents, combed my hair, pulled it into a side fishtail plait and got dressed into some pyjamas. Darren, Mr. Crepsley and Harkat shared an apartment that had a side door connecting our apartments. Mine was much smaller; it had a small living room with a sofa, a T.V and a mini fridge for food, a small bathroom with a bath, sink and toilet and a small bedroom with a single bed, a desk and a cupboard for my stuff. I didn't bother with the cupboard because I only had a duffel bag which held all of my stuff. The door connecting the apartments was from my living room to theirs.

I checked the T.V to see if there was any new news about the killings, Darren and I did this every night. It was also really annoying me how active the police were, they were arresting anything looking suspicious. Thank fully after a long night of finding nothing in the sewers there was no new killings. I went into the living room of Darren's apartment and said goodnight. But it wasn't actually night, because we slept in the day. He nodded and mumbled "Night." Darren was really tired and heading to bed then as well. I turned the lights off in the rest of the rooms. I walked into the small bedroom. I walked over to where Misty was and stroked her behind the ear while she was sleeping. I climbed into bed and pulled up the covers. I slept.

I was shaken awake by; I thought it was Darren, Harkat! "What?" I groaned groggily. He said quietly "Darren's and Mr. Crepsley are talking to someone in their apartment. My eyes snapped wide awake. I grabbed a jumper to hide my tattoos and some ripped jeans. I combed my hair quickly and let it fall loose. I said to Harkat quietly "Wait here and keep an eye on Misty." He nodded and sat on the bed. I walked into the boy's apartment and said to the man with a brief case "Hi Mr. Blaws." He smiled a big, fake smile, made me wanna puke rainbows. Anyway he asked "how did you know my name." I looked at Mr. Crepsley, he didn't know what I should say either. I made a lie up and answered "I heard you introduce yourself when I was getting ready." He said "Oh, ok, anyway, back on subject, as I was saying to young Darren Horsten," We had signed in with fake names, Mr. Crepsley was Vur Horsten and Darren was his son, Darren Horsten and I had been adopted so I had my name Victoria Hale. Mr. Blaws carried on "I came to find out why you were not at school." I furrowed my eyebrows and snorted "Why should we?!" He said back "Well your father has chosen to send you to school; I can see on your sheet that you are a very high achieving student, I see that you have anger issues." I nodded and said "Fair enough," He chuckled and carried on "And from your birth certificate you are fifteen." I nodded and said "Again, why should I go to school," I didn't bother to hide how agitated I was, I was tired and I felt horrible from being cramped down in the sewers almost every night. He said "As I told your father, you need to learn." I growled and said "What school?" He answered "Mahler's." I frowned "That's that music based school, isn't it?" He nodded. Mr. Blaws then said "The school, is how you young ones say, in the rough part of town." I smiled as Mr. Crepsley said "These two can handle themselves." Mr. Blaws asked "So?" I scoffed "So what?" He looked at me with an ice cold stare. "Fine!" I said before storming back to my room.

I jumped into bed while Harkat sat in the living room. I fell asleep again. I got roughly shaken awake again.

I got up and threw a shoe at whoever woke me up. It was Darren who got hit square in the face with my boot. I growled "What, I need sleep you know?!" He rubbed his cheek and said "I know but we need to talk to you about something." I got up and walked to the boy's apartment. Mr. Crepsley was sitting in a chair, brooding quietly. Mr. Crepsley looked up and asked "Is it a trap?" I nodded and said "Duh! But it plays a major role in the outcome of the war, so I suggest we go." I was answered by silence and said "Well it's obvious you didn't submit the forms," I pointed to Mr. Crepsley "Because you're illiterate, you can't read or write." Darren and Harkat gawped at him. Mr. Crepsley looked embarrassed. I laughed and said "Now, if you want to keep those heads, I suggest you don't wake me up again!" They all believed me, my eye had gone red and I hadn't eaten meat in a few days so I was starting to get slightly edgy. I stormed back into my room and jumped onto the bed. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

It was a Thursday when I found out that we were going to school. I relaxed for Friday night and went shopping on the weekend. Darren went shopping for his stuff and I went shopping for my stuff. Mr. Crepsley gave me a lot of money to use. First I went to buy some uniform. I bought some grey shorts and some black tights because there is no way I was wearing a skirt. Next was a white polo shirt. I then bought a green jumper and a green tie that I hated and some shoes. The shoes I got were black converse boots because again there is no way I'm gonna wear some small black girly shoes. When I wore my uniform it was fine because the jumper was a size too big and the boots were fine because they were boots. When it came to the tie I just had it loose and kept the top button undone. Darren had chosen all the wrong things so I laughed at him for at least ten minutes because he waddled around like a penguin and his bag was like a turtle shell!

I didn't need a haircut because I cut my hair myself, evenly and then tied it into a fishtail plait. Then I needed school supplies. I bought a satchel for a school bag and I also bought necessary books. I bought some pencils and pens as well. I hadn't listened to any music for a while so I bought an iPod and some ear buds. I bought some of the songs that sounded nice and listened to them for a while.

I got ready for school the next morning by washing my hair and combing it through. I pulled it into a side fishtail plait and pulled my hair band around my head to hide my ears. I wrapped my tail around my waist, under my giant jumper. I grabbed my bag and left with Darren.

Darren and I got to school about an hour early. Harkat told me that he was going to look after Misty and keep her occupied. I told her where I was before I came to school. Mahler's was an old school. Many students were skulking around. We walked around the school trying to find Mr. Chivers; he was who we needed to talk to. We couldn't find him and the teachers wouldn't help so we went to go and asked the students.

We walked over to a group of people who were chatting about what they had seen last night on T.V. Darren asked them where Sir was, they were really rude and ended up calling him and ass wipe. I was quiet until that moment when the guy Darren was talking to tried to size him up. Darren backed away so I said "Leave him alone." His head snapped towards me. He laughed and mocked Darren by saying "Got a little girl to fight your battle." Darren face palmed, that is the one thing you should NEVER call me. I said sweetly "I bet you couldn't beat me in a fight." He laughed "Oh really?!" He went to go and punch me. I grabbed his fist from mid air, twisted it, getting a cry of pain in response. I bent down and swung my leg under his feet, landing him on the floor. I grabbed his arm and pulled it behind his back; I kept pulling until I felt Darren pull me up. Smickey was his name, turned around panting as I said "Now, I suggest you don't do that again." He nodded as I brushed myself off and walked away with Darren. I heard them talking about us as we walked away but I didn't care, I had made my point.

We waited outside Mr. Chivers' door. I felt glad I had knocked some sense into that kid, and he was about twice the size of me. Darren hung his head in shame as we waited.

Finally Sir arrived. He ran in carrying a load of papers, red faced, he rode his bike to school, Darren informed me. He didn't even realise we were there, he ran into his office and shouted at a kid out of the window. He looked at us and asked who we were. I said "We're new?" He then slapped his fore head as he remembered. He pulled out some files and said to Darren "Good grades," Darren thanked him, and then he turned to me and said "Excellent grades." I thanked him without a smile; he then went on to say "Anger issues." I smiled through a scowl and said "Yes, Sir." He then went on to study Darren's burns and my eye. According to the files Darren was in a house fire and my parents got killed but apparently I managed to escape. He gave us a quick tour of the school. After the tour we went back to his office where he gave us our timetables. I smiled as Darren groaned. I had Science, music, art, P.E and then Geography. He told us that they use to be a musical school but closed and reopened as a regular school. He said that they put a lot of emphasis on musical talent. He asked us if we could play any instruments. Darren told him that he could play the flute. Mr. Chivers then turned to me and said "So, can you play anything, or even sing." I thought for a moment, I wanted, no, needed to keep a low profile. I shook my head and said "No, I can't." Darren was about to speak up but I elbowed him in the ribs. He got the message and shut up.

First was science that had always been my favourite lesson. I had science with Darren so we had to go to the same classroom. This science lesson was chemistry, not my favourite but it would have to do. We walked into class; we had a teacher called Miss. Newton. The first question she asked was "What happens when you burn magnesium metal?" I put my hand up. She pointed at me and said "Yes?" I smiled and explained "When you burn magnesium metal it creates a blinding U.V light. This happens because oxygen reacts with heat, making fire. The magnesium is then set on fire because Magnesium is highly flammable. This makes the light and leaves behind Magnesium-oxide, a powder." She looked and said "Very good." I stayed quiet for the rest of the lesson sipping my coke when near the end of the lesson she says to me "No fizzy drinks." I shrug and say "Oh well." I took another sip, the rest of the class laughs. Miss then asks "Please, I need a word with you." I nod and walk outside carrying my coke. Outside the door Miss goes on and on about not making the school dirty and all that stuff. While she is yelling at me for drinking coke, I keep sipping my coke and get roars of laughter from the class. I agree to stop drinking the coke and put the empty can in the bin.

Next I had Music. I walked into the class room. This class was bigger and had seats like at a theatre with a stage down the bottom of the class. I sat the second row from the top. I pulled out my sketch book and started drawing Sam Grest. Soon after I sat down, students poured into the room. Directly behind me sat a girl who had make up caked on and a mini skirt and long blond hair perfectly brushed. When I lived with my human family this was the type of girl who bullied me in school, everyone bullied me in my old school. The teacher hurried in and started talking, I took no notice. The girl behind me said "Hi, I'm Gwendolyn." That screamed snobby rich girl. "What." I said. She answered and said "You think you're really smart, don't you?" I nodded and said "Smarter than you." She laughed sarcastically and said "Oh, please, I'm the best student in this class." I turned around and said "How's that?" She laughed a snobby laugh and said "Because I can sing." I ignore her but she keeps trying to speak to me "WHAT?!" I yell, forgetting the entire class is in here. She laughs as the teacher called me down to the stage. She looks at me with a piercing glare and says to me "That is the best student in our class, do not talk to her like that." I growled and said "What, just because she can sing?" The teacher pulls out a file and flicks through it before saying "Apparently you can't sing or play an instrument." I growl again when I hear a giggle from the back of the classroom, to hell with keeping a low profile. I look around the stage. There were different guitars and a stool to the side of the stage. I dragged the stool to the middle of the stage. I walked over to the rack of guitars and grabbed one off. I sat on the stool and was asked by the teacher "What are you doing?!" I smiled and said "Just listen." I played a few notes to test it out but the notes sounded wrong because I hadn't played in a while. I heard a snigger from Gwendolyn when I played the wrong notes. I adjusted my fingers and played some chords that shut her up! I started to play more and more until I started to sing a song I had bought. It was popular song by Ariana Grande.

La la, la la  
>You were the popular one, the popular chick<br>It is what it is, now I'm popular-ish  
>Standing on the field with your pretty pompoms<br>Now you're working at the movie selling popular corn  
>I could have been a mess but I never went wrong<br>Cause I'm putting down my story in a popular song  
>I said I'm putting down my story in a popular song<p>

My problem, I never was a model,  
>I never was a scholar,<br>But you were always popular,  
>You were singing, all the songs I don't know<br>Now you're in the front row  
>Cause my song is popular<p>

Popular, I know about popular  
>It's not about who you are or your fancy car<br>You're only ever who you were  
>Popular, I know about popular<br>And all that you have to do, is be true to you  
>That's all you ever need to know<br>So catch up, cause you got an awful long way to go  
>So catch up, cause you got an awful long way to go<p>

Always was on the lookout for someone to hate  
>Picking on me like a dinner plate<br>You'd hit during classes and in between them  
>Dunk me in the toilets now it's you that cleans em'<br>You tried to make me feel bad with the things you do  
>It ain't so funny when the joke's on you<br>Ooh, the joke's on you  
>Got everyone's laughing, got everyone clapping, asking<br>How come you look so cool?  
>Cause that's the only thing that I learnt at school, boy<br>I said that's the only thing I learnt at school

My problem, I never was a model,  
>I never was a scholar,<br>But you were always popular,  
>You were singing, all the songs I don't know<br>Now you're in the front row  
>Cause my song is popular<p>

Popular, I know about popular  
>It's not about who you are or your fancy car<br>You're only ever who you were  
>Popular, I know about popular<br>And all that you have to do, is be true to you  
>That's all you ever need to know<br>So catch up, cause you got an awful long way to go  
>So catch up, cause you got an awful long way to go<p>

All you ever need to know  
>You're only ever who you were<br>All you ever need to know  
>You're only ever who you were<p>

Popular, I know about popular  
>It's not about who you are or your fancy car<br>You're only ever who you were  
>Popular, I know about popular<br>It's not about who you are or your fancy car  
>You're only ever who you were<br>Popular, I know about popular  
>And all that you have to do, is be true to you.<br>That's all you ever need to know  
>It's all you ever need to know<p>

By the time I finished the song, the whole class was staring. I walked back to my seat and finished my drawing of Sam.

After Music was break, I saw Darren outside, being stared at. I ran over and joined him. We walked around school talking about how our lessons with. He didn't have any luck with Science because he didn't know anything about Science and was never good at it in the first place and he was down in the dumps when it came to math. I told him about my lessons, he laughed when I told him about Gwendolyn. We chatted for ten minutes while being stared at rudely for the whole break.

Next I had Art, Miss asked if I could do any art so I pulled out my sketch book and showed her. She was impressed and let me have the lesson to myself so that I could complete some of my drawings.

Next was P.E. I was told that I had football. I got dressed into a long sleeved rugby shirt and some shorts. They had no sweat pants left so I had to have shorts, so everyone could see my burns. We played and played, of course most of the girls were too scared to chip a nail so I enjoyed lacing the football at Gwendolyn. It hit her in her chest and knocked her over, I took this opportunity to dribble the ball and boot it into the net.

Next I had Geography. I walked into the lesson with a load of other students and luckily there was no sign of Gwendolyn. We were learning about using compasses when we were lost in forests. Sir said "If you are going to find your way anywhere in a forest you will need a compass." I put my hand up irritably and said "Excuse me sir, but you don't." He cocked his head and asked "And why is that?" I smiled and said "Because of where Ivy grows. The leaves face north, to get the most sunlight whereas the roots are in the shade to get the water that had not been dried up." He smiled and said "I guess you're right." The rest of the lesson went fine and I understood the lesson.

When I got out I went to go and put my books in my locker. Darren walked over to me and said "You'll never guess who I just saw!" I smiled and said "Hmmmmm, Debbie Hemlock!" He smiled and said "No...Wait...yes," Our smiled grew brighter.

* * *

><p><strong>I am really sorry if I offended anyone called Gwendolyn.<strong>


	31. Chapter 31

We ran back to the hotel, we were going to tell Mr. Crepsley but he was asleep so we told Harkat instead. While Darren was talking to Harkat I told Misty what was going on, she was happy to see me home. Harkat was full of questions like what if Darren meeting Debbie wasn't a coincidence. They looked for me for help but I put up my hands and stayed quiet, they had to figure this out by themselves. Harkat told us to keep weapons with us and Darren especially because he was meeting up with Debbie at her house. Darren did what all of us were terrified to do, he went to wake Mr. Crepsley.

We were at Debbie's apartment; it was a small cosy room with a small garden outside. Darren rang the buzzer for her room. She was angry at him for being late to her apartment. Mr. Crepsley, Harkat and I were going to watch the apartment for any sign of danger and Darren had knives with him. We walked to her apartment; she opened the door and frowned when she saw me. "Hi, Vix." I waved and said "Hi Debbie, sorry but our carer said that with all the killings we should not be out alone." She nodded and said "Good thinking." I looked at her garden, the grass was trampled and muddy, thorns were overgrown and dominating the lawn. I asked Debbie "I'm a miracle worker with Gardens, do you want me to do some work?" She nodded and said "I've been meaning to get someone to do it, so yeah, take a shot." I smiled and walked into the yard. I waited until nobody was watching. I kicked off my shoes. I grew new green grass all over, then a cherry tree in the corner, then strawberries all around. I grew patches of flowers by the apartment. By the time I was done, I felt really tired so I climbed up the pipe to where Harkat was perching, on the roof. "You did a good job...on the garden." I smiled and said "Thanks." We chatted and kept watch until we saw Darren walk out of the apartment, a big sloppy grin on his face. Debbie walked out to see him off and saw her yard. She put her hands over her mouth and shouted to Darren "Tell Vix thanks!" He nodded and shouted back "Ok, Bye Debbie!" When she was inside we heard three long whistles, which was his signal to say he was leaving.

The story we had agreed on is that Darren and I were victims of an anti-aging disease so we spent time off school, and now we were catching up on what we missed. Apparently Evra, who she met before, was a patient (along with us) to Mr. Crepsley.

While Darren was inside Harkat and I had scouted the area and were hiding behind some rubbish bins. He walked down the alley way. We saw him and got out from our hiding place. "How are you?" He asked us. Harkat said he was fine. I answered "My back is killing me from crouching behind those bins and I need a good sleep, doing her garden was tiring." He put his hand up and said "Oh yeah! Debbie said thanks, she loves her garden." I groaned and said "She better love it." He laughed. Mr. Crepsley came over to us. We discussed what we were going to do, Darren was going to have tutoring from Debbie during the day because we found no evidence that any Vampaneze were in the area. Mr. Crepsley looked sad (even more than usual) so we asked why. He revealed that our friend, our prince, Paris Skyle, was dead.

Of course we weren't surprised but it hit hard all the same. He was eight-hundred years old so we should have seen it coming. Mr. Crepsley was going to leave for the funeral; almost every vampire in the world was going. But at least one prince had to stay away from Vampire Mountain in case something happened to the others. Darren didn't like the idea of not going to Paris's funeral but it wouldn't be fair on the other princes to give up one of their places.

We were going to stay where we were and take the risk of being attacked. I only stayed because I knew how much Debbie meant to Darren. Harkat went along with what we said.

The next two weeks were very hard. The next day of school was incredibly fun though. I had another P.E lesson, this one was football again. I then had two free periods, maths and English. When Darren and I walked into school, the kid I knocked the stuffing out of the day before walked over to me and said "I've come prepared dis time." I smiled and said "Oh really?" He narrowed his eyes and pulled out a knife. I laughed as he pointed it at my throat. Darren held back a laugh as I said to the boy "Look down." He did and what he saw made him drop his knife. There was a knife pressed against his stomach. He quickly ducked down to grab his knife. While he did this I put my knife away and kicked his head. He fell to the ground and blacked out. It was just my luck that a teacher ran over because he had seen what happened. The teacher grabbed my arm and dragged me to Mr. Chivers' office. He ranted on at me for a few minutes before dishing out punishments.

I walked out of his office and saw Darren. He asked "What punishments." I groaned and said "Detention all week and a month's worth of counselling." He doubled over laughing.

The rest of the time school went smoothly apart from when Darren had to drag me away from others when I was going to break their noses. Around school I was known as an official badass and was normally in detention while Darren went to Debbie's apartment. Sometimes at lunch Darren and I would take part in sports but Darren had to be careful, if he got too angry he could easily flick someone across the football pitch or put them in the hospital.

It took about three weeks but Darren and I each made a friend. Darren's friend was names Richard; he was the main kid that got picked on. Darren basically saved Richard from getting his face pounded in by Smickey, the one I knocked down twice.

My friend was called Tara Williams. I was sitting on my own at a table one lunch when I saw Gwendolyn picking on her. I got up and walked over to the table and sat next to her. "Excuse me Gwendolyn but could you leave her alone or will I have to knock you out." Gwendolyn looked scared but didn't falter when she said "You'd get a detention if you do that." I shrugged and said "I have one every day for the next month, oh and counselling for two." Tara laughed but stopped when Gwendolyn pierced her with her fiery gaze. Gwendolyn looked me over and left. Tara smiled and said "Thanks Vix." I nodded and said "Let's eat and then we can go do something else." She nodded and said "That would be nice.

We decided to go to the music rooms. I grabbed a guitar as she plugged in a piano. We spent the whole lunch playing music. On the weekend I had a feeling, just a random feeling, that something bad was going to happen.

I was in bed when I got shaken awake; I threw my pillow at whoever did, like I normally did, which is why nobody liked waking me up either. Harkat dodged the pillow and said "Darren needs to see you." My eyebrows knitted together. I shrugged and pulled on a jumper. I grabbed my beanie and pulled it over my ears. I walked into the room and saw a man. I knew who he was without even thinking about it. It was Steve Leonard. I sat down but my hand hovered over my knives. Misty growled so I said to her "Steve." She nodded and said "I know, and why can't I kill him now?!" I barked back "It would ruin everything." She topped growling but stayed aware and alert. Darren saw this and asked "Why?" I said nothing, just kept my eyes glued on Steve. Darren stood up to go and get a drink, he limped badly. I sat him down and went to go and get a bowl of water. I saw that his leg had been stitched. I asked him what happened. He said that he ran into a vampaneze, who had hooks for hands. The vampaneze had almost severed his leg completely. Steve had saved Darren and stitched the deep gash together. I healed his leg like I normally did. Steve then asked me smugly "What, don't you trust me?" I narrowed my eyes and growled "Never." Darren was angry with Harkat and I for not trusting Steve. Steve loosened his scarf. I smelt lots of medicine and gagged straight away. For Darren it was irritating but for me it was horror. I also smelt Vampaneze, but only just about, Darren couldn't tell though. Talk went on to the vampaneze. We spent the weekend down in the tunnels. I kept my knives and bow and arrows on me and allowed Misty to come. My eyes darted over to Steve; I was keeping a close eye on him.

We found nothing that weekend. Darren and I had to go to school that Monday anyway because Darren had told Debbie to move into a different apartment and he wanted to check on her. We tried to find Debbie but nobody knew where she was. Darren's nerves were gnawing away at him.

At lunch we found Debbie. She pulled up in her car accompanied by police men! We asked if we could have a word with our teacher. They let us but kept their eye on us. She was a wreck. She was shaking all over and tears ran down her cheek. I gave her a hug and let her cry into my shoulder. When she composed herself she looked angry. She asked if he knew what was going to happen and why he told her to get out. He said he didn't know what she was talking about, that was the truth. She explained that the people in the apartments either side of her had been murdered and drained of blood.

She asked if Darren knew who did it. He said that he didn't know who they were, but he knew what they were. She then remembered I was there. She turned to me and said "wait, do you know who they were." I looked away and muttered "I know every detail." She said that we had to tell the police. Darren replied "This is beyond them." She said that they were releasing her tonight so she was going to come and ask some questions and if she wasn't happy with them then she would turn us over to the police, oh great!

That night it was time for Darren to tell the truth. Steve and Harkat were against the idea. Harkat asked me what I thought. I decided what I should say; Harkat and Darren knew I could only give out a limited amount of information away. I thought for a few minutes before Harkat asked "So?" I stood up next to Darren and said "I think we should go with Darren, but we need to keep an eye on her." Steve still argued but was outnumbered when it was us against him.

Debbie turned up at about seven. Darren told her the truth, that there was no institute that we belonged to, then, the secrets came spilling out. He told her everything. He told her about me and my elemental magic. She didn't believe us. He proved he was a vampire by making her stand by the door and moving as fast as he could. She couldn't see him move around. She decided she believed him but not me. I told everyone to wait. I went and got a bowl of water and made it move around the room. She still didn't believe me. I then thought and said "How do you think I did your garden so quickly." She finally decided that she believed me. She got angry and threatened to go and tell the police officer that she had brought with her that was waiting down in the lobby.

She gave up on that idea and said that she wanted to help. Darren was not going to agree to that. He turned to us and said "Tell her she's insane." Steve and I agreed on something for once and said "It's a good idea to have her down there with us."Darren was shaking with rage when he gave in. Suddenly he told us to be quiet. He listened through the door and said "I heard footsteps, no door has opened." I grabbed my knives and told the growling Misty to hush. Debbie flinched at the sight of our weapons but brushed it off. Steve and Debbie were to wait by the window and make a quick escape. I was going to stay in the room and Harkat and Darren were going to look in the hallway.

A few tense seconds passed before I slapped my forehead, remembering what was going to happing. I strolled into the hallway; Darren saw me and hissed "Get back in." I slapped him around the head and said "Always look up." I pointed up and smiled as the vampire prince wearing purple animal hides jumped down from the ceiling. He groaned and said "Damn, you have to ruin my fun." I shrugged and said "There's plenty more to come."

We walked back into the apartment and called Mr. Crepsley in from the roof. Mr. Crepsley's eyes went straight to Steve. I laughed and said "Well, this should be good."

Harkat, Debbie, Steve and Vancha agreed with Darren and said that Steve was not evil. Mr. Crepsley had tested Steve's blood many years ago when Steve wanted to become a vampire. Mr. Crepsley rejected him and said that his blood was tainted with evil. Mr. Crepsley didn't trust Steve. I sided with him on that.

We explained what had been happening while they were away and vice versa. We had to move hotels now that there were more of us. We moved into Steve's block of broken apartments. The stench was unbearable so I kept the window open. Debbie and I shared a room along with Darren and Steve. Mr. Crepsley, Vancha and Harkat shared another room. We used Steve's room for all of us, like a living room. Debbie said she could stand the cold. Steve complained and said "I catch colds too easily." I smiled sweetly and said "Deal with it."

That night it was cramped and uncomfortable. I woke up in the morning and met everyone else in Steve's room. Steve looked up and said "Sleep well?" I smiled and said "I had the best dream, you were there." I pointed to Steve. He said "Why, because I'm so awesome?" I shook my head and smiled sweetly "No, because you were dead." Mr. Crepsley hid a smiled and Vancha laughed.

We all had a phone each; it took a lot of convincing to get Vancha to accept this. We split into pairs along the tunnels. The others got into pairs so I went into a pair with Misty. Steve found a human corpse and said he would inform the authorities later so that it could be buried. We found nothing and when we got back to the apartment Debbie was...a wreck. I healed her as best as I could and then Darren bandaged her. She asked how we did that. Darren said "We're vampires." She pointed and Steve and I and said "But they're not." I smiled and said "I was a human girl, in Vampire Mountain; I learnt to pull my weight. Steve has trained himself to do this. So don't feel bad about it." She nodded and hobbled off to bed.

The next night was no better. I got out of the tunnels earlier so I went to go and read the newspaper. There had been another murder, of a young girl. There were now two new presumed murders, a young boy, his name, Darren Horsten and another girl, named Victoria Hale. When Darren walked out of the sewers near where I was I called him over and showed him the newspaper. We waited for Debbie to go to bed so we didn't overload her with new problems. We agreed that we would go into school and say we felt ill and call our uncle Steve to collect us after a few lessons. Steve would come and say that our father was on a job interview. On Monday we would drop out of school and say that our father got the job and we had to move to another city.

We needed to focus on the vampaneze. We walked into school where we talked to Mr. Chivers. He was amazed when he saw us walk into the room. We told him the story that we agreed on. At the end he said that it would have been awful to lose three in one week. I cut him short and said "Who else was killed." He paused before answering, I knew before he answered that I wouldn't like it. He whispered "Tara Williams." I leant against the wall, my legs felt like jelly; I slid down and sat on the floor, in a crumpled mess. I made the deaths touch sign and said "Even in death, may you be triumphant." I was too busy crying to listen to the rest of what was being said.

I got dragged out of the room by Darren. I wiped my tears as Darren said "We need to find Richard." I nodded. We went to go and find Richard. Smickey saw us as we walked through the corridors. He called down and tried to be mocking. I had had enough of him. I walked over and went to go and pull my knife when Darren said "Allow me." I nodded as he went over to Smickey and held him by his collar lifting him above his head he asked where Richard was. Like the coward he was, Smickey whimpered and told us that Richard was in the computer rooms. As we left I heard him say "I hope they get killed like ta-ta. I snapped. I walked over to him and pulled out my knife. I grabbed his hands and on the palm I cut in one letter. V. I then punched him as hard as I could. He whimpered on the floor, wiping the blood from his nose. I scowled and growled "That was for Tara." I walked off and followed Darren out of the building.

We agreed to stake out the houses of Darren's class mates. Darren, Harkat and I were going to stake out by Richard's and then the others by the other houses. Once the lights went off in Richard's house we climbed onto the roof. Harkat had his arrow gun and I had my preferred bow and arrow. We were going to hurt any vampaneze and then follow them as they run away.

It was a Saturday when the vampaneze struck.


	32. Chapter 32

Harkat was the one who had spotted the vampaneze first. It was dark when Richard and his brother went out shopping. We shadowed them all the way to the stores. They were approaching an alley when Harkat pointed up on the roof of a building far away. It took a while for me to see him but when I did I realised it as the hook handed vampaneze.

I took my bow out and grabbed an arrow. I put the nock on the string of the bow and held it by my side. Harkat would of shot but something happened with his arrow gun. By the time we had figured out that Harkat couldn't shoot, the vampaneze was too far away for Darren to throw a knife. I reacted quickly, took aim and shot. It hit him right below his knee. While the vampaneze was struggling with the arrow, Steve had shaped the end so it wouldn't come out easily; Darren covered his face and told the two boys to run. They ran incredibly fast.

We closed in on the vampaneze. He saw us and tried to leap away. It didn't work. He threw a knife in a lame attempt to hold us off. Darren ducked out of the way. The vampaneze ran, he ran as fast as his wounded leg would follow. Harkat called the others to tell them what happened and where we were. When we got out of the alley, we couldn't see him. Darren pointed to some blood on the ground, leading to a house. He was scrambling up the wall. Darren let him get to the roof before following; it would be easier to see him on the roofs. As we got onto the roof the vampaneze pulled some knifes. We pulled ours. Before he attacked Steve and Vancha appeared. Vancha jumped up the wall and Steve missed with a shot, on purpose.

He kicked some more tiles at us and ran. I hid behind Darren because I wouldn't be strong enough to break them. Unfortunately one hit my wrist and a sharp pain ran up my arm. I roared out in pain and for a moment I thought I saw a smile in the vampaneze's eyes. I growled and put one knife in my belt so that I didn't have to hold anything in my injured wrist. Vancha walked over and asked "You alright?" I looked at my wrist, which was now a mixture of red, blue and purple. I said to him "I think it's sprained." He looked at it and nodded. He chucked me a roll of linen to wrap around my wrist. I wrapped it around my wrist while we were chasing after the vampaneze.

The vampaneze took us deeper than we had ever been before in the tunnels. We came to a standstill outside of a modern dome-like room. We had agreed on an order, I would have been in front but because of the injury to my wrist I went second from the back.

We walked in; the room was dimly lit by candles. The rock was smooth. I smelt vampaneze and human. "I can smell them." I whispered. "Them?" Vancha asked. Suddenly from the middle of the room we heard "Yes, them." It was the hook-handed vampaneze.

Suddenly a load of figures jumped down from the ceiling. The vampires and vampaneze talked to each other. Vancha called the hook-handed vampaneze a maniac. The hook-handed vampaneze said that he was a vampaneze because of Darren. Darren said "I...Who are you? I don't know you." The vampaneze shouted "LIAR!" Darren continued to stutter. I grabbed the drawing that I had done many years ago and had put in my pocket. I unfolded it and showed Darren. He looked at the picture and said "R.V" The vampaneze next to R.V said "What's that." I screwed the drawing into a ball and rolled it over to the vampaneze. He looked it over before giving it to R.V. R.V looked at it, I could see whatever shred of humanity he had left in his eyes when he saw the drawing. He looked at it and got angry before ripping the drawing and saying "It's not Reggie Veggie anymore...It's Righteous Vampaneze!" I frowned and said "No." He looked angry now "NO WHAT?!" He yelled. I walked out and said "You are neither righteous or vampaneze." He frowned and said "Yeah I am." I shook my head and said "No, you are a dishonourable monster." The vampaneze next to him said "Vampaneze are not monsters!" I turned to him and said "Vampaneze are respectable creatures of the night," I pointed at R.V and said sadly "He, is the monster." I walked back to where I was standing. Mr. Crepsley looked at me sadly and gave me a reassuring smile. Darren asked "Who dreamt this up?" I looked at the floor until I heard from behind me "I did." I turned around slowly and saw Steve holding a knife to Debbie's throat.

I saw hatred grow on Darren's face as he saw the scars on Steve's now showing fingertips. Darren started to run at Steve. I stepped in the way and caught Darren. "LET ME KILL HIM!" He roared. I said nothing except "What about Debbie." He then realised that if he made a move then Steve would slice Debbie's throat open.

Steve explained that he thought Darren had secretly teamed up with Mr. Crepsley and tried to kill him with Madam Octa. He said Darren took his place as a vampire. I said to Steve as all vampires and vampaneze and vampets were fighting "How could a twelve year old boy. Plan that?" He shrugged. Suddenly I felt a hand around my waist and a knife against my throat. I stayed still and heard someone hiss in my ear "Hello Human." From their tone I guessed they were vampaneze. I slowly moved my arm down and grabbed my knife with my uninjured hand (Left) My arms were then held in an X shape across my chest. I threw my arms forward and the vampaneze got thrown over my back, before the vampaneze could react I drove the knife deeply into his shoulder blades. A vampet ran towards me. Everything stopped as Darren called out "It's your brother. Gannen Harst." Vancha went on his tip toes to see over the wave of vampaneze. Suddenly Vancha saw someone else and said it was the vampaneze lord. Before anyone did anything Vancha ran at the 'vampaneze lord' with full force knocking aside vampaneze and vampets. Acting faster than anyone else Mr. Crepsley followed Vancha and killed vampaneze and vampets as well. Harkat realised what was going on and swung his axe and cut a vampets head clean off. The vampaneze reacted and stopped Vancha before he got to his brother and the lord. I looked back at Debbie to make sure she was alright. It seemed that in the midst of the fight Darren was about to stab Steve but R.V had Debbie and was digging his blade deeper and deeper into her flesh. Darren was about to drive a knife into Steve's shrivelled excuse for a heart when R.V shouted "STOP!" Darren stopped and looked at R.V. R.V said that if he dies, she dies. Darren retorted with if she dies, he dies. I turned to R.V and said "Monster." With that, I saw doubt overcome him. R.V left the hall and Darren told me to keep an eye on Steve. I walked over and sat next to the unconscious Steve. I wanted so badly to drive my knife through that think skull of his. Darren went to kill the vampaneze lord but they saw him coming so the lord left and two massive thick doors were blocking Darren's way to the lord, on those doors were locks.

I heard Steve groan. His eyes fluttered open so I wacked him round the head with the hilt of my knife. The fight raged on around the room. Darren made an unpredictable move and swung his sword round in a large arch. I needed to go and help. I grew some vines and wrapped Steve's hands behind his back extra tightly. I helped as much as I could with my left hand but I wasn't use to fighting like this. The vampires started to retreat. We passed Steve. Darren yanked him up by his hair, he gave a yelp of surprise but stopped squirming when he felt Darren's sword against his neck.

Vancha was just about to make a brutal end of a vampet when Gannen roared out "STOP!" He said that he didn't want any more bloodshed so he gave us a chance to leave. He said he would give us a head start through the tunnels but we had to leave Steve and the vampet Vancha was holding hostage. Darren objected and said he wouldn't leave without Debbie so Gannen said that since Steve and R.V were close friends then we could take our hostages. We walked up and up the tunnels, every moment fearing that Gannen would set his minions on us.


	33. Chapter 33

Vancha had split up from us to lure the others away. Either Darren or I would cuff Steve if he even made a noise let alone speak. After a while a vampet found us and tried to signal the others but before he could say much Vancha had stepped out and broken his neck. Vancha disappeared into the shadows once again to keep watch. We walked around familiar tunnels so Mr. Crepsley asked "Can you smell anything." I shook my head "Not down here." We finally started to get to where we needed to. It got lighter and lighter. The vampets following us could now see us which meant that they could shoot. I would have helped with a bow and arrow but my wrist hurt too much to use them so Vancha used his throwing stars.

We found a ladder so we quickly hurried up. I was up first. There was a puddle next to the pot hole so I immediately made it heal my wrist, it didn't help that much but it helped the pain. When I looked back around we were all up on the streets. We suggested leaving but Darren would have none of that because of Debbie. We decided to stay.

We got to our apartments. I was in charge of first aid. I made sure to wash out everyone's wounds, apart from Steve's, and wrapped them in bandages. Steve took off all of his extra clothing, his jacket, his gloves, and his scarf. He claimed that when Mr. Crepsley tested his blood something happened so he could catch cold easily. Harkat noticed and asked. Steve said "Oh, I needed to hide the scars on my fingers and hide my vampaneze smell." Mr. Crepsley frowned and said "You sly demon." He smiled and said "The medicine was to mask it; I knew that your sensitive noses would pick it up straight away." Mr. Crepsley turned to me and said "Could you smell it?" I hesitated then answered "Yes." He shook his head and said "You need to tell us these things." I nodded and said "I can't." He gave a frustrated sigh but left it there.

I could see the others were tired from fighting but I could also see that nobody dared to blink while Steve was awake. I said to them "You guys get a few minutes sleep, I'll watch the beast." They nodded gratefully and closed their eyes. Mr. Crepsley said sleepily "I will not go to sleep, only rest." I smiled and said "Ok."

Just more than an hour passed when Vancha walked in. I had been listening to Vancha torture the captured vampet for answers. Vancha walked in looking sullen. I said to him "It's alright; you did what you had to do." He smiled sadly and downed a can of beer. I woke Mr. Crepsley and Darren, who had been sleeping deeply, so that they could listen to what Vancha had to say.

Vancha explained that only the vampaneze lord can kill us just as we can't call any vampires for help. Darren asked why they didn't kill Harkat or me or Debbie. Steve spoke up and said "We knew there were three of you, we just didn't know which three, but now we know." Then he frowned as he realised that only he knew. Great, now anyone can kill me.

I heard cars and footsteps all over the building, but I ignored it, I needed to concentrate on Steve. We discussed tactics for a while when suddenly Mr. Crepsley asked "You must have considered what would have happened if we escaped." Steve grew a devilish smile on his face. I tuned out from the conversation and listened to the suspicious footsteps and cars.

I sighed and slapped my forehead. "I'm such an idiot!" I said. Everyone's eyes glued on me. Mr. Crepsley asked me "Why?" I sighed and said "I was listening to them come, but I couldn't tell you." Mr. Crepsley walked over to me and said "What could you not inform us of?" I looked at Steve then back at Mr. Crepsley and said "Outside, go look." He walked over to the window suspiciously. He peeked through the heavy black curtain and looked back at us with worry as he saw: police cars, army vans, many men with rifles and over head was a helicopter with a gun big enough to rip a basket ball sized hole in my stomach.

Steve laughed loudly and crazily as we cursed and kicked the ground. I wacked him round the ear, drawing blood. Steve explained what was happening and added on the end "She heard them." Mr. Crepsley looked at me. I nodded and said "I heard them. They have everywhere covered, even the rooms above, under and to the side of us." Vancha checked out the window. They had a massive spotlight that lit up the room. Vancha said "Who's going to talk to them, I can't stand that light." He looked at Harkat who said "I think they would...shoot at me without thinking." They looked at me. I nodded and said jokingly "Well, I am a people person." I walked to the window, broke the glass and shouted down "Could you please turn of this blasted light!" They laughed and said that they wouldn't. Vancha asked "Why are they here?!" Steve laughed again so I clipped his ear and said "They think we're the killers." Vancha asked me "But why?" I looked at Steve and said "Because that's what they have been told." He looked at me and said "Who," I raised my eyebrow and said "Really." He thought and then said "Steve?" I nodded and said "DUH!"

We decided it was best to talk to them. Whoever it was I was talking to shouted through a megaphone "Who am I talking to?!" I looked around at the room and shouted back down "You don't need to know!" There was a pause and then the same voice as before, it was a women's voice, shouted up "We know who you are. Larten Crepsley, Vancha March, Darren Shan, Victoria Hale and Harkat Mulds." Everyone was silent apart from Steve, who was laughing with tears flowing down his cheeks. Harkat said "Best to let them think that you're co-operating." I nodded and shouted down to the police officer "Victoria Hale." Whoever it was walked forward and said "Listen Hale, I am chief inspector Alice Burgess." She then went on to explain that she had over two-hundred officers in the buildings and two-hundred on the ground that had 'twitchy fingers'

She asked about hostages. Someone called Mark Ryter and Steve Leonard. Mark Ryter was the vampet Vancha had killed. I scowled as Steve walked up to the window and faked terror as he shouted down "They haven't killed me yet, but they killed Mark. They tortured him first. It was horrible. They-"He actually had the nerve to cut himself off so it looked like we stopped him. I punched him in the gut and hissed "Another word and you die." The smiled left his lips as he realised I was serious. She said that we need to release Steve and surrender.

Vancha pushed past me and yelled that we weren't going to let Steve go. Suddenly a load of bullets were aimed just high of our heads. I cursed. When the roar of the bullets disappeared the chief inspector said that that was only a warning. Misty whimpered and hid behind me. Alice said we had two minutes or they come in for us. I pulled my knife and walked up to Steve and said "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me." He closed his eyes. I stopped after I was half way when Mr. Crepsley said "Wait." I turned around and hissed "What?!" He pointed at the window and said "They would not expect it." He asked if we could jump out. None of them had a problem, except me. I looked out the window again and said "There's a pipe, I can slide down and then jump when I'm nearer the ground." He nodded and said "What about Misty." I chewed my lip and said "I can carry her." I told Misty the plan. She agreed and walked to the window. As she walked past Steve she bit his foot, but not enough to draw blood. Vancha agreed but said "But we kill that, before we leave." I nodded; I had no problem with it. Then Mr. Crepsley said "If we kill Leonard then they will surely kill us." I nodded in agreement and said "I guess." Mr. Crepsley looked around the room and was greeted with nods of agreement from everyone. We exchanged glances and said to each other "Luck."

Grinning Vancha and Harkat jumped through the window. I jumped grabbed hold of Misty and swung round to where the pipe was and slid down half way before jumping a few stories to the ground. I let go of Misty. I grabbed one of my knives and held it in my uninjured hand. Misty stayed at my heal, growling ferociously. Mr. Crepsley and Darren jumped out next. Darren landed and rolled forward from impact. But as Mr. Crepsley jumped his ankle gave way and he landed with a roar of pain. I took off my jumper and shuffled over to Mr. Crepsley, keeping my eye on the police. I walked over and crouched down. I ripped my jumper and wrapped it tightly around his ankle. I checked it over before standing up again.

I looked around and saw that everything was in an uproar. The police were surprised and were running around and falling over each other like headless chickens. Harkat was spinning around in circles, defending himself with a human shield. I laughed as I saw Vancha tackle Alice Burgess to the ground. I grabbed Darren by his arm and dragged him over to Mr. Crepsley. Mr. Crepsley tried to stand up but his teeth were gritted with pain. I could tell that this hurt immensely. Vancha grabbed Burgess and used her as a shield. Vancha and Harkat went back to back using their human shields. Alice yelled for her men to kill us but Vancha threatened her life. The men hesitated before lowering their weapons. Harkat and Vancha waddled over to us and asked Mr. Crepsley if he would be able to flit away with his ankle like that.

Mr. Crepsley said that they he had to stay. Darren refused to leave him and Harkat and I refused to leave Darren. Vancha worried about that but let us stay. He ran, slowly building up speed, ready to flit. He used Alice as a shield so that no police officers could shoot at him. We watched as he hit flitting speed.

I looked over at the others who who grinning at the sight of the confusion on the human's faces when Vancha flitted away. I looked at Harkat who was still holding the terrified police officer. I walked over and said "You can't do anything with him now." I got Harkat to release the man and let the officer walk back to his ranks. Mr. Crepsley told us to leave our weapons. My hand drooped as I moaned "But-"One look from him made me put my weapons on the floor. I didn't mind leaving my knives because I could easily buy some more. I put my bow down, it was old and I had been meaning to make a new one. I didn't like parting with my arrows though because they were still fine and had taken ages to make. I laid them on the floor none the less.

We shouted out that we were surrendering. I wrapped Mr. Crepsley's arm around my shoulder and Darren took his other arm. We supported most of his weight. I put down my other stuff but kept with me my licence to own my wolf and the bracelet around my arm.

One of the officers grabbed my arms and pulled them behind my back. They shoved us into a van. It was an annoying drive to the prison. The police officers didn't know what to do about Misty so they clipped her claws, then muzzled her and sat her next to me. She asked me "Where are we going?" I shrugged and said "A jail?" She laughed and said "Well I guessed that, but where?" I shrugged and said "I have no idea."

I asked Mr. Crepsley "How's your ankle." He looked at it and said "Fine. How is your wrist?" I said back "It hurts, because of the handcuffs. I could undo the handcuffs, but I doubt they would be happy about that." He thought for a moment before saying "Now Vix. I need you to not get angry while we are there." I laughed and said "Me? Angry? Never." Darren laughed and Mr. Crepsley said "I am serious Vix; you cannot get angry at them." I sighed angrily and said "That's going to be difficult."

When we got to the prison the door swung open and we were dragged out. I was happy until they grabbed the handcuff around my wrist, I yelled "OW! Careful." The police officer laughed and said "Why should I be kind to murderers." I growled and let him yank me out of the truck.

We were brought into the prison. It was made of cement, damn! I looked around as we walked in. We got checked at the door. All they found on me was my wolf license so they said I could keep Misty with me as long as she stayed muzzled. One of the officers tried to take my bracelet but he wasn't having that, no way! He tried to take it off but I roundhouse kicked him, I hit his chest and he went to the floor. I bent down and said to him "You can take everything else, but this stays!" He nodded so I stood up and saw Mr. Crepsley looking at me "What?!" I asked. He tutted and said "Anger." I stomped my foot and moaned "Fine!"

There were cells lining the walls. We walked down an isle between the cells to get to the interrogation rooms. First Mr. Crepsley got walked to a room. There was someone in the room after that. Darren got put in the next one and I got pushed into the room next to Darren's. Then the boredom began.


	34. Chapter 34

For me I was in a cell the same diameter as all of them so about four metres by four and the ceiling about three metres high. There was a big iron door with a small window at the top. There were five people cramped in the room with me, not including Misty. Two of them were asking questions and three were by the door, with rifles and knives. I did ask why so much security. They said there was an anonymous tip that said that I was extra dangerous, so needed extra security. There were two seats facing each other with a circular table between them. I sat in the chair farthest away from the door.

I had tried looking at ways to get out. There were none. The walls and floor and ceiling were all made of concrete so I couldn't control that. The handcuffs I was in were extra strong, but if I timed my moment right I could set the chain on fire and break it. I finally planned my escape, I got to work. About half an hour of silence went by and then when they asked a question I would retort with another question like when they asked my name I asked "Where is Steve Leonard." He sighed and answered my question "Steve is unconscious and in the medical rooms." I stamped my foot and said "Yeah, I was the one who knocked him out! And by the way, when he kills those people, you can't blame me." I looked at Misty, who was scratching at her muzzle. I asked the guy interviewing me "Please can I take it off of her." He laughed and said "But you have handcuffs on." I smiled and showed him my hands that had no handcuffs on. He gasped and stuttered "H...h...how?!" I smiled and said "That's for me to know and you to find out." I had actually grabbed a bobby pin out of my hair and had unlocked the hand cuffs. He snapped his figure and said "Someone get her some new handcuffs." I groaned and said "Please, they hurt." He smiled and said "I've heard that one before." My shoulders slumped. I showed him my wrist. I un-wrapped the linen around my wrist. I looked at my wrist; it was still a mixture of greens, purples and blues. He saw my wrist and said to the guards "Get her cuffs that are looser." I smiled gratefully and said "Thank you." He looked at Misty, who was still whimpering and said "Fine, but as long as she doesn't attack," I smiled brightly and barked to Misty "I can get that off you." She whined. I dived down next to her and undid the muzzle.

When I undid it she yelled "Thank you!" then growled at the others. The guards raised their guns. I shouted at them "Don't!" I then barked angrily at Misty and said to her "You need to stay calm, or they'll put that back on you." She obeyed and sat still. The interviewer said to me suspiciously "What were you saying?" I smiled and said "That's why I am dangerous. I am half wolf, I can do magic and I can speak to animals." He laughed and said "And you expect me to believe you?!" I nodded and took off my hair band and un-wrapped my tail. He gasped and said "Ok, you're half wolf. What about the magic thing." I held my hand up and showed him my palm. My palm then set on fire. He gasped again and said "Ok, if you can do this then are the others vampires?" I said nothing and showed no emotion, I did this for another few hours. I then asked "Are the others in rooms like this?" He looked around and said "You're buddy Darren asked the same thing." I narrowed my eyes. He carried on "He asked this, and his room had no sunlight coming in either." I sat up straight and asked "What about the other two?" He nodded and said "Yeah." I sighed and slouched back down. He looked around and saw the cause of my concern. He then stated smugly "Or if you want to see them-"I listened closely "Then we can put you in a bigger cell together-"a smiled started to dance on my lips "With some nice windows, a view of the outside, of the grass, of the sky, of the trees, of the sun." The colour drained from my face. He laughed at my expression and said "Darren did exactly the same thing." Him talking about Darren gave me an idea. I told Misty my plan, she barked happily.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus into Darren's mind. I concentrated more than I ever had before. I saw a hazy image, like you get in a dream. I knew that I was seeing what Darren was seeing. I heard voices. Someone called Ivan and someone called-. That is all I could get before I got slapped back to my own mind. I came to and found myself staring into the barrel of the gun of one of the guards. I pushed the barrel away from my face. Next I decided to try Mr. Crepsley but not do what I did to Darren. I managed to keep my eyes open so that they thought I was listening. I found Mr. Crepsley's metal pattern and sent him a message "It's Vix, how are you, I'm fine and Darren's fine, I'm not sure about Harkat though. We need to get out." A few minutes passed before I heard Mr. Crepsley "Yes I am fine. My ankle hurts but it will hold." I sent him back a message "Good. These morons are giving me everything they got! so I got to go!"

The guy kept asking questions and more questions and more questions. I answered virtually none of them. He started to get frustrated, and fired questions sharper. A person came in a few hours later. I wasn't surprised that it was Mr. Blaws. He looked frustrated already and had a chat with the interviewer. I saw papers being viewed and glance being shared. Mr. Blaws said to me "How could you kill those people, even your friend...Tara!" A tear rolled down my cheek, for a moment I could see that they doubted I was a killer. The interviewer walked over to me holding paper. I raised an eyebrow at Mr. Blaws, who was raising his briefcase above his head. He suddenly threw it. I raised my hand and caught it before it hit me. Mr. Blaws collected his items and left. Before he did I felt like saying "Sorry I've missed those detentions." He stuttered but couldn't find the words. I smiled smugly and said "What you got there?" The interviewer shuffled the papers and said "These are your files." He looked through them and said "You have amazing grades, you need anger counselling-" Before he said anymore I asked "Are those the originals?" He nodded and said "Yes, we haven't got any copies either." I smiled as the papers in his hands set on fire. He looked horrified and I guess had finally had enough. He threw a punch at me. I caught his fist and said "Now now, that's against the law." He laughed evilly and said "Normally our inspector stopped us from doing this, but she's not here, is she?" I smiled and said "Well, then I can do this because I'm just a helpless little girl. That's what you think of me." He nodded shakily. I laughed, stood up, and kicked the back of his knees, flooring him instantly. The guard raised his gun; I looked him with a fiery gaze and said "Just don't." He lowered the weapon. One of the other guys ran out for a replacement since I knocked the interviewer out. A burly man walked in and said "I'm Con. I was just interviewing Darren, the vampire." He studied my face for any sign of emotion but when he found none he went back to speaking. "If you have a mouth like Darren then you'll probably be here for a long time." I smiled sweetly and said "I'll wait for a distraction and escape with my friends, there's nothing you can do about it." He leaned forward and sneered before saying "You knocked out one of our best officers, he was called Ryan. Why?" He said this with unusual roughness like he was going to give up and lash out any moment. I smiled and said "Self defence Sir." like I was completely innocent. I suddenly asked a completely random question "What are the walls made out of?" He furrowed his eyebrows and said "Cement, why?" I shook my head and said "Don't worry about that." He asked more and more questions, I felt his patience was coming to an end. The question that I did answer to was when he asked me "Why did you kill Tara Williams." I stood up and said "I didn't kill her! We are not the killers! You'll see we're telling the truth, I bet all of us have the same answers!" A few tears ran down my cheek. He smiled and laughed as he said "Not so tough now." I smiled and brought my hands up, they had no handcuffs on them, I had done the same thing as I had done before. He gawped and said "How many times have you done this?" One of the guards said "She has escaped her cuffs over five times." He yelled "Well get her tighter ones then!" I groaned as they put tighter handcuffs around me.

Misty slept soundly in the corner. Con went over to her. He looked like he was going to do something horrible. I jumped between him and Misty and growled deeply. I hissed "Raise a finger to her and you die." He saw I was serious and backed off, so did I. After that he treated me with asked more and more questions to which I didn't answer.

He saw I wasn't going to let anything slip so he decided to do something else. He brought another man in, who was carrying coffee. I saw from his name tag, he was called Craig. He walked in and sat on the other side of the table. I heard Con whisper to Craig "Careful with this one." I kept my eyes glued to his back until he left. I then turned to Craig. He asked me if I wanted a drink. I said nothing and did nothing. He looked at me and said "I understand you have knocked out one officer and frustrated another." I smiled and laughed like it was a great achievement. He frowned and said "You're friend Mr. Horsten; he was getting fidgety so we discussed moving him to a bigger room with windows and everything." I glared at him angrily. He smiled and said "Ok, we won't." I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

For another hour they got nothing out of me but silence and groans from the pain in my wrist. At one point I think I actually fell asleep but got slapped awake by one of the guards, I woke up to see that same sickening smile that I saw when Craig walked in the room. I was asked questions for another half an hour before I heard a faint scream. I knew what was about to happen. I took this opportunity to say "We are not the killers, the one who is, is in the building and he has just made the first blow." He frowned at me. I waited a few minutes before panicking people poured into the hallway. Craig looked at me and said "Who are the killers?" I replied sadly "Not us." For once I think he believed me. He ran out into the hallway along with the people in the room, apart from one guard. My eyes were glued to him, now was my chance to escape. I heard shuffling above me and smiled. I stood up and said "Please leave." He shook his head and held up his gun shakily. I shrugged and said "I warned you." He was about to fire his gun when it burst into flames. I winked and punched him in the face so hard that it knocked him out. I said out loud in my empty cell "It's just me." I jumped into a dome like stance over Misty to hide her from the falling rock and plaster. I shook the dust away from my hair and said "Took you long enough Darren!" He smiled and said "At least I came." I smiled and said "We need to get out, Misty first." I lifted up Misty, who was barking happily, through the ceiling of the cell. Suddenly the door swung open, I saw Con. Darren saw Con and yelled "Quick!" I stood on the chair and jumped up. Con dove for me and tried to grab my foot. He missed; I hauled myself up next to Darren on the rafters. I smiled and waved down at Con and said "Told you I'd escape." He kicked the floor and yelled curses as Darren, Mr. Crepsley, Harkat, Misty and I headed to the back of the building to get out of this rotting hell-hole.


	35. Chapter 35

**Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. I've been writing loads and loads of stories. As some of you know, last time I updated it changed my story by taking out chunks at a time. I'm not sure what happened. Hopefully this will work!**

We crawled through the ceiling and got to the other side of the prison. Darren tapped the wall, making sure he could break it. He smiled and kicked his leg through the wall, spraying dust everywhere.

We looked down from the hole in the wall and saw an empty alley. Darren asked us "Will you be able to jump?" I smiled and said "I can." Harkat nodded and said "That's nothing." Mr. Crepsley looked down and said "No." We frowned. He then said "But I can climb." Our smiles returned.

I grabbed Misty and jumped down. I landed and was forced into a role. I looked around the area to make sure we were safe. Darren and Harkat did the same. We found nothing. Mr. Crepsley glanced up at the sun. It was only dim and clouds were covering it and it was the afternoon but this was still fatal to the old vampire.

Darren suggested going down the tunnels, the police wouldn't be able to follow us and the sun wouldn't bother Mr. Crepsley either. We agreed and helped Mr. Crepsley hobble along. We found a manhole to get down; there was a cat on it. It hissed at the others but didn't mind me. I asked it if it could move, it didn't mind and it happily walked away. Darren barked an order for us to go down in. "I'll go first, then Mr. Crepsley, then Vix and then Harkat." We nodded; we learnt to trust his judgment as a prince.

He climbed down the ladder. He walked down to the bottom, Mr, Crepsley went to go down but a gun was fired. I looked down but it was too dark. I heard some mumbling before Darren climbed back up, looking grim-faced. Mr. Crepsley asked "Police?" Darren shook his head and said angrily "No, vampets." I kicked the floor and cursed. Darren asked what we should do. Mr. Crepsley said "Run." I nodded and said "I don't like the sound of running, it's not my way, but it's our best bet." Mr. Crepsley looked around and got nods of agreement. "We find a place to hole up and wait for night." He then turned around and said "If you had waited until sunset to break us free we would not have had this problem." I laughed as Darren went red-faced.

We walked through the streets, hopefully not drawing any attention to us. It was less than three minutes before the police had started to pour out of the station and into cars. We weren't getting very far so Mr. Crepsley told us to take to the roofs. We objected because the sun would literally burn him...to ashes! Darren asked if we had any money. I shook my head and said "Nope, nothing." He stamped and ran off saying "I'll be back in a minute!" I took this opportunity to try and care for Mr. Crepsley's ankle.

I unwrapped the bandages and gasped, it was red and purple up to his knee. I saw a puddle nearby and made a sort of case around his ankle, it glowed its normal blue colour. I closed my eyes and concentrated on healing. I opened my eyes and looked down at his ankle. It looked the same so I asked "Is that better?" He nodded and said "Yes, much pain has abated." I smiled and stood up as I saw Darren running over to us, looking panicked. He handed a bottle to Mr. Crepsley and said "Rub this into your skin." Mr. Crepsley nodded and rubbed the sun-tan-lotion into his skin. He then chucked something to me. I caught it, it was slippery. I smelt it, mmmm, it was chicken. I ripped it in half and threw some to Misty and wolfed down the rest myself.

Darren quickly said "Run!" He started to explain but then gasped as he saw...an angry mob chasing him. Suddenly there was a gunshot. I looked to see who fired, it was an old man. The wall shattered above our heads. We ran as fast as our legs could carry us.

We were way ahead of the mob because Mr. Crepsley's ankle was fine from my healing but then it swelled up and our pace dropped. We rested at a corner panting and doubled over. Mr. Crepsley said that we should carry on without him. We were having none of that. While we caught our breath Harkat had been pacing. He shouted "HERE!" I looked around, he was pointing to a ladder, leading up to the roof of a block of apartments.

We climbed up the ladder just as the mob tore into the alley. They managed to get hold of Harkat's robe but he easily kicked them off. We managed to get a head start because all of the humans were trying to get up the ladder at the same time.

Darren got to the top and waited for us. I was going slowly because I was carrying Misty and I was slow because of my sprained wrist. I heard a helicopter whiz overhead. Suddenly a voice from the helicopter said "Stop! Or we'll open fire." Darren looked worried and shouted "Quick, we have to go now or-"Suddenly the helicopter open fired. Darren screamed and fell down the ladder, onto Harkat, onto me and then onto Mr. Crepsley. We hurried down some flights, trying to stay away from bullets and mobs. We were inside the building now. We huddled into each other in the hallway frightened, alone, miserable, tired hurt and trapped.

We discussed escape or battle plans. None turned out to be what we needed. Mr. Crepsley suddenly smiled and looked at me. I raised my eyebrow and then smiled as I realised what he was talking about. I turned to Darren and said smugly "Ready?" He furrowed his eyebrows and said "For what?" I turned to Mr. Crepsley and nodded.

We went to the doors of apartments and slammed onto them with our fists shouting "Vampires! Vampires! They're in the building!" I held my fingers up, three...two...a man ran out yelling and screaming. Harkat and Darren caught on and did the same as Mr. Crepsley and I.

Once we had cleared the floor I ran and looked down the stairs. It was a funny sight. The people trying to get out were stopping the people trying to get in and vice versa. Once there was a reasonable amount of people we ran to the back of the building and jumped down into an alley and walked away, slowly but surely.

We passed a few other people but they didn't give us a second thought. It was dimming to a dark night and I could see Mr. Crepsley starting to relax but his ankle looked even more painful than before.

We needed to find somewhere to stay. While Darren was thinking I took care of Mr. Crepsley. I looked up and saw Darren grinning. I stood up and said "We are being hunted, by two races, why are you smiling?" He smiled even brighter and said "Richard lives close by." Before waiting for a reaction he ran off to Richard's house. We groaned and ran after him.

We got to Richard's house. Harkat, Darren and Mr. Crepsley climbed onto the roof. I was too tired to carry Misty any more. Then I had an idea. I slipped off my bracelet and formed it into a thin disk. I told Misty to hop on. She obeyed and sat on the disk. I climbed up the drainpipe to Richard's roof and made sure the disk holding Misty floated near to me. I hopped onto the roof and let Misty jump off as well. I made the disk back into a bracelet and slipped it back onto my arm.

By the time I was seated happily Darren was already down by Richard's window. I saw him signal for Mr. Crepsley, something about not being to able to open the window. Mr. Crepsley climbed down the wall. He tried opening it, and then said that it was plastic. I laughed quietly and told Misty, she laughed as well. I was drifting off to sleep, on a roof, when I heard someone shout "Vampires!" I looked at Harkat and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged and said "I have no idea?!" I grabbed hold of the gutter and hung in front of the window. I looked in and saw Richard passed out on the bed. Darren was trying to clean up a spill. I swung into the window and said "Let me." He smiled and got to work on cleaning up some pop corn. While I was cleaning I asked "What happened?" He frowned and said sadly "He thought we were murderers, he screamed so Mr. Crepsley knocked him out." I smiled sympathetically, it's horrible being knocked out by the gas of the undead that vampires and vampaneze can breathe out.

I finished cleaning and hugged Darren "It's alright; this is always going to happen, make new friends...then lose them." A tear sprung to my eye when I thought of Tara. Mr. Crepsley said that we could probably hide until night but Darren immediately shook his head and explained that if Richard had offered help, then fine, but he hadn't so it would be wrong to stay.

We checked on Richard and left, back into the harsh sunlight word filled with bad people. We stayed on the rooftops for safety. We stuck to the shaded quiet area but we tried to move as quickly as we could. We tried to find somewhere to shelter until it got dark.

We chanced upon an old abandoned silo. We rested; we would be safe here because we were far away from where the police were, it would take the police ages to get here. Darren started to try and unpick his locks, he wasn't getting anywhere and Mr. Crepsley was resting so I walked over, slipped the bobby pin out of my hair and was done in under a minute with the shackled around his ankles and wrists. He looked at me and said "Where are your locks." I shrugged and said "I got them off before you broke me out." He laughed and said "How come." I smiled smugly and said "They were bugging me, they were down to their smallest size, I kind of broke out of seven pairs so they gave up." I heard a small grunt of a laugh from Mr. Crepsley.

Darren turned to Harkat and asked why he didn't have handcuffs on. Harkat smiled his ghastly smile and said that they took them off once he was inside his cell. I laughed and said "Why?" He smirked and said "They didn't know what I was...they asked if I was in pain so...I said I was...and they took them off." I laughed again as Darren said "So you all managed to get out of yours, apart from me." I nodded and said "Yup, that's pretty much it." I tended to Mr. Crepsley's ankle as he rested. We were all starving so Darren went looking for food. He came back up about quarter of an hour later with a few tins of beans. I was too tired to heat them up so we ate them cold, we were honestly just too hungry to care though.

I started to drift off but made sure I kept myself awake. Mr. Crepsley saw that I was exhausted and said "Get some sleep; we will wake you when the time is right." I smiled thankfully and cuddled into Misty's fur.

I was thankfully woken up softly for once and didn't throw anything at anyone. I stood up, stretched, rubbed my scared eye and woke up Misty. This was normally what I did when I woke up. Mr. Crepsley's ankle was still a hideous purple but he said that the pain had gone down a lot and that he would be fine.

We walked down to where we agreed to meet Vancha without running into any obstacles or vampets or vampaneze. We walked to the big cave of where the battle before had taken place. There were foul-smelling puddles of blood around the cavern. The dim candles still burned around the room, giving it an eerie glow.

Mr. Crepsley said "Tread carefully, hold your weapons low and-" I face palmed. I looked hopefully at Darren and Harkat. Harkat shook his head and said "Sorry, no weapons." Same with Darren. They looked hopefully at me. I slipped my bracelet off of my arm and formed it into a dagger. I held it up and said "It's the best I can do." I smelt something and smiled. I said out loud "Vancha, you can come out now." Mr. Crepsley looked at me and said "Pardon?" Suddenly a figure dropped down from over head and said "Vix! You always ruin that!" We smiled and threw our arms around Vancha. He seemed surprised and then hugged us back saying "Sappy idiots." He smiled and said "You came without weapons?" I nodded and Darren said "The police confiscated all of our stuff." We then went on to explain everything, including Steve, and including how Harkat and I got out of our handcuffs. He laughed when he heard how we did get out of our handcuffs. When we finished he was practically shaking with rage. He motioned for us to follow him. We followed him to a dark corner of the cavern. There were a pile of weapons. I smiled like a child on Christmas and said "Dibs on those!" I jumped over to the pile and picked up two longer knifes and some short throwing knives. Harkat came next and grabbed an axe. I smiled at how we all felt like it was Christmas...but our presents were daggers and swords.

I stood up and saw a figure faced down. I questioned Vancha "Really, you had to bring her, she's not experienced enough, she will die." The boys looked at me; Vancha grinned and rolled the figure over. It was chief inspector Alice Burgess. I smiled and laughed at how angry she was. She was shouting even though she had a gag on. She shouted "Urfl guffle snurf!" I laughed even harder. Vancha took her gag off. First of all she addressed me "I have been a member of the police force for fifteen years!" I snorted and retorted with "Yeah well I've been fighting since I was thirteen, I have lost count of my age, I think I'm around thirty." She furrowed her eyebrows and hissed "You're all liars." I shook my head and said "No, we are honest people." She scowled but decided to leave it there. Vancha was watching the whole time, a massive smirk on his face. Next she fired insults at him; he just smiled and then turned to me and said "I think she likes me!" I rolled my eyes and said "You do know that when a woman compares your intelligence to a rock and then makes a reference to a donkey, she is not complimenting you." He smiled and said "I think you like me to." I sighed, I might as well just give up there, and he wasn't going to let up. Vancha bent down and unbound the bonds around her wrists and ankles. He let her go and pick a weapon. As she did I asked him "Is this really a good idea?" He shrugged and said "Well, we'll find out soon."

She said that she didn't believe us. Vancha had told her everything while he was away from the city. She then continued that she was going to tag along with us and if we were right then she would help but if not then she would make a brutal end of us. I smiled sweetly and said "Now now, anger." She cursed and I laughed.

We walked to the doors across the cavern where the vampaneze lord had disappeared to in our previous fight. It was locked with those locks where you have to put the numbers in. Vancha informed us that there was no way at breaking through and no other way around, over or under. Mr. Crepsley tried his lock picking skills but cursed when he found that he couldn't. They were all puzzled and silent when I said "I have an idea, why don't you try and solve it!"


	36. Chapter 36

Darren closed his eyes and a few minutes passed. He opened his eyes and snapped his fingers, he said to Mr. Crepsley "Try this." He called out numbers and more numbers. When he finished the lock opened easily. I slapped Darren on the back and said "Well, that took you long enough." Alice scoffed "Oh please, you didn't know the answer." Mr. Crepsley looked at Alice and said "On the contrary." She raised an eyebrow. Mr. Crepsley carried on "She knows what will happen, speaking of which, is anything significant going to happen in this battle?" I thought to myself 'yup, a whole lot!' I nodded and said "Yes." Mr. Crepsley asked "Can you tell us?" I shook my head and said "You know I can't." He smiled understandingly.

It was time to enter the hall. I grabbed for my knives, a smaller, lighter one in my injured hand. Mr. Crepsley arranged an order for us to go in. Before we went in I bent down and said to Misty "Now, I want you to be very careful and to stay with me, I will protect you as much as I can." She nodded. I gave her a massive hug.

We entered the dim cavern, as I walked in I caught the scent of vampaneze straight away and by the looks of it so did Misty. I looked around the room but there were about a million shadows that anyone could hide in. We walked to the centre of the hall before I heard a voice, filled with insanity. We spun around and saw R.V. I growled and so did Misty. Before he had any time to say anything Darren yelled "Where's Debbie, you monster?!" He tried to shove past Mr. Crepsley but he restrained Darren from doing anything stupid. R.V made an offer, Darren's life for Debbie's. Darren whispered "No." R.V smiled evilly and said "Speak up." Darren threw a knife and yelled "NO!"I scowled the whole time at R.V. I turned around and saw Alice, she looked like a ghost. She asked shakily "Was that one of them." I nodded and Vancha chirped "Yup, that's one of those monsters alright." She whimpered "Are they all like that?" Vancha smiled and said "Nope." She let out a breath. "Most are far worse!" She gulped and grabbed her knife shakily. We headed down the tunnel.

It was a long tunnel. When we got to the next cavern it was man-made with a very high ceiling. There were three massive chandeliers hanging, each one had a hundred or so candles on them. I smiled, well, now there would be enough fire for me. It was an oval shaped cavern that had completely smooth walls. In the middle of the cavern there was a platform raised on high silver pillars. As we walked over we saw that under the platform was a massive pit, filled with thick, pointy stakes. There was a rope hanging over the edge of the platform nearest us and on the other side was a plank leading to a hole in the wall, which, apart from the doors we just came through was the only way out.

Vancha decided to test the platform and rope. He said that we will go one at a time, that way, if anything happens then only one person will die. As he was on the platform Alice shouted out "Hey!" she then pointed up to the tunnel entrance over the platform. Everyone's eyes darted up to where the figure was. I stayed still and looked around the hall. I whispered to Misty "Keep an eye on the rest of the hall." She nodded and looked around the hall. I turned around and saw Steve. Vancha saw Steve and growled like a dog before crawling at a faster pace over the plank. Steve laughed and said "We meet again." He then casually lit a match and threw it into the pit, making more fire for me to play with. I smiled into the flames; this was going to be fun. The fire completely consumed Vancha and the rope.

Vancha appeared not a moment later, patting out the fire on his hair and clothes. I laughed and said to Steve "It's takes a lot more than fire to get rid of a vampire." Steve frowned. Vancha roared and tried to climb back up the rope. Steve pulled out a very big and heavy sword and tapped it against the rope. I think Vancha got the message because he stopped trying to climb but instead sent a shuriken flying at Steve. Steve did nothing as the silver throwing star lodged into the underside of the steel platform. Steve laughed dryly and said "You can't hit me, no matter what, the angles off." I growled and sent some fire at Steve. He flinched as it hit his arm. I laughed as I said "I guess I just have a better aim than you thought." He scowled.

Vancha slid down the rope and came back to us. He laughed maniacally and whistled three long, loud whistles. Misty barked. I turned around and saw panels being removed from the walls and ceiling. Vampaneze and vampets climbed through and stood with their weapons. I growled at the men around the hall, there had to be at least fifty. Darren said "Ummm." I followed his gaze to the plank connecting to the platform. The lord of the vampaneze and Gannen stood there. I felt my hands ball into fists. The fire raged as if provoked. Vancha groaned when he saw his brother and then his gaze travelled to the lord of the vampaneze. He narrowed his eyes and hissed "What do we do?" Mr. Crepsley shrugged and suggested "Die?" I sniggered and said "Maybe later." Darren smiled back and then frowned as he realised what danger we were in.

Vancha asked why the vampaneze and vampets hadn't attacked yet. Gannen said it was because they were afraid to kill us in the heat of battle because according to Desmond Tiny only the vampaneze lord could kill the hunters, that made me worried, I was allowed to be killed by anyone in here.

Vancha asked if they would defend themselves if we attacked. I turned to Vancha and said sarcastically "No, because they bought all these people down here so that we could kill them." He rolled his eyes and said "Alright, alright, I get it." I turned back to Gannen who shouted "Lower away R.V!" I looked up as I saw someone being hung by a rope, it was around her waist, she was bound and gagged. It was Debbie. I smiled and mouthed the words "It'll be okay." She nodded but she had tears in her eyes. She looked broken, her eyes were dull, she was stained with blood, her clothes were slashed and she looked ready to pass out any moment. I looked over at Darren; he looked almost as terrified of Debbie. I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled as he looked over at me.

Debbie's gag was taken off and she yelled at us to get out straight away. Steve told her to shut up and tapped the rope tied around her with his sword, if he cut the rope, she would head straight into the fiery pit of stakes. She chewed her lip and tried to stay quiet.

Gannen spoke again, he said that the non-hunters could leave and save their lives but the hunters would stay. He asked if we would give our lives for the vampire clan. Harkat said he would and I calmly said "My loyalty lies with the vampires, especially these three." Gannen smiled but his smile was sincere. Gannen told us that the hunters had to surrender and leave their weapons and then Debbie, Harkat, Alice and I would be able to leave with our lives. As soon as Gannen finished Vancha shouted out "No way! I haven't given up before and it's worked out so far!" Mr. Crepsley said sourly "Nor shall I agree to such a deal." Darren was trying to decide between letting us die with honest deaths, or for him to die pitifully along with him. He looked around at us and finally said grimly "No, we fight and we die, all for one and one for all." I smiled at him, letting him know that he had made the tight choice.

Gannen shrugged as if it didn't matter that we refused. He said "What about this?" He then went on to explain that it was the same deal as before but this time Darren would get to duel, two on one, with Steve and the lord, and Debbie, Alice, Harkat and I would all get to live. If Darren wins then we get to live but if he loses then Mr. Crepsley, Vancha and Darren would all be executed. None of us knew what to do. Mr. Crepsley looked studied me to see any sign of what we should do, after he found nothing he turned and said "It is up to Darren." Vancha, Harkat and I agreed. Darren agreed to the challenge, Gannen said it would be fine as long we didn't harm anyone.

R.V then entered with Debbie, he was dragging her by her hair. Vancha said "We will drop our weapons and surrender if he loses fairly, you have my word." Gannen nodded. Darren whispered "Will you really surrender?" Vancha nodded and said "I gave my word." I added on the end, smiling slightly "Plus, he said we would drop our weapons and surrender, he said nothing about picking them back up or letting them keep us." Darren smirked. R.V chucked Debbie; Darren caught her before she hit the ground. He steadied her to her feet but she seemed incapable of being able to stand on her own. I smiled at Darren and said "I got her." He smiled thankfully as I put her arm over my shoulders, supporting most of her weight.

Debbie, Harkat and I insisted that we were saying but Darren said to us with worry "What if they go on a rampage if I win?" he stressed the word 'if'. I nodded and said "Fine." A vampet called Morgan James walked over. Morgan had helped Darren escape from prison because he had been posing as a police officer, Morgan was truly evil. He poked Alice in the ribs, she hissed that she was going to track him down and make a brutal end of him. She bent down to tie her laces next to Vancha, I saw them murmuring, but just barely and had to hide a smile as I realised what they were talking about. She stood up and narrowed her eyes at Morgan; he pushed her with his gun.

We went to go and leave. Misty followed close behind. I had my hands around Debbie as she sobbed sorrowfully. The vampaneze and vampets parted, leaving a path for us to walk down. We walked until we were almost at the end of the cavern when Alice looked over her shoulder at Morgan. He told us to hurry up because we were behind her. Morgan sniggered and looked back at us. Suddenly Alice tackled Morgan to the ground and grabbed his rifle. Morgan tried to grab the gun back, one of them must had accidently pulled the trigger because there was a loud roar, I closed my eyes and when I opened them I saw Morgan, wailing pitifully on the ground, cradling the remains of the side of his face. Alice had completely blown off the side of his face. It was a bloody mess, shredded to ribbons.

He climbed to is feet but Alice wacked the side of his head with the gun, he fell to the floor once more but this time he was unconscious. As vampaneze and vampets stampeded towards her she pulled down the trigger and aimed at the platform. Bullets went flying at the platform, holding Gannen, Steve and the lord of the vampaneze.

One of the bullets hit the vampaneze lord in the shoulder, making him yelp in pain. At that sound almost everyone in the hall ran at Alice, the only problem was that between Alice and them, it was Debbie, Harkat, Misty and I. Misty was sure to get crushed. I flattened my bracelet into a disk and barked at her. I stood on the disk, so did Misty. I lifted us high in the air and made us go towards the end of the cavern. Alice was holding her own and Harkat was dragging Debbie by her hand away from the ruckus. I looked over at Darren, Mr. Crepsley and Vancha. Mr. Crepsley was climbing the rope. It was time.

I floated back down to the ground as the vampires and vampets realised that heir lord was in danger. They spotted Darren and Vancha and surged towards them. I hopped off the disk and formed it into a bracelet and slipped it onto the top of my arm. I un-furled my tail so I had better balance and took off my hair-band. Alice gasped. Harkat said "You get used to it." She nodded and wiped some blood from her face. I took out my knives and ran towards the crowd. The vampaneze and vampets were so tightly packed, trying to get to Darren and Vancha that they were confused. I could see that Darren and Vancha were picking them out from the crowd and killing them. Debbie stayed at the back of the cavern, so she could, you know, not die. Alice, Harkat and I picked them off from the back and killed them. Harkat beheaded many with his axe, Alice managed to get a lot of head shots in and I made sure that my enemies knew I was there, rather than killing them from the back, it was the vampire way to fight openly and not kill from the back, so that's what I did.

I saw Mr. Crepsley climbing the rope, but Gannen was walking over, with a knife in his hands. I shouted at Alice "ALICE! LOOK!" Her head shot round and she fired. Gannen rolled back and away from the rope.

I saw a vampet heading towards Debbie. I grabbed a short sword from the vampaneze I had just killed and ran over to Debbie, I gave her the sword, she was going to say thank you but she got stopped because the vampet had raised his gun. She ran over and stabbed him, blood poured out of the wound, she threw up a little in her mouth. I smiled and said "You get used to it." She smiled back and said "I don't think I ever will." For once we had no enemies coming at us. She asked me "When was the first time you every killed?" I thought and said "When I was about twenty, I have been able to fight since I was thirteen, Mr. Crepsley taught me." She smiled and said "What is Mr. Crepsley to you?" I smiled and said "He started off as a teacher, then a guardian, and now, I've never said this to him, he is one of my best friends, he is someone who I rely on." She smiled at my expression before shouting "Look!" I turned around and saw a _massive _vampaneze running at me with his sword outstretched. I pushed Debbie out of the way, ducked underneath the sword, grabbed the vampaneze's arm, dragged him down to the floor, pulled his arm back, and waited until I heard a snap, finally let him get up before stabbing him in the chest with my knife.

Debbie looked at me with her jaw dropped and complimented "You are really good at that." I smiled and said "Thanks." before running back to the wall of enemies. I saw that Debbie, Alice and Harkat had the back covered so I called Misty, who had blood splattered on her fur. I quickly asked her "Have you swallowed any?" She shook her head and said "I make sure to spit it out; I don't fancy the idea of going crazy and dying." I smiled and made my bracelet back into a disk. Misty and I hopped on. I said to her "Duck down low." We ducked down low and went directly over the enemies head's. The reason I ducked was to not get hit, he bottom of the disk got shot by one vampet but Harkat buried an axe in his head. I dropped down next to Darren and Vancha. I started fighting from where they were fighting.

I was fighting when Darren yelled "Vix!" I whipped around and saw an axe go through the rope Mr. Crepsley was on. It didn't cut clean through so it would hold Mr. Crepsley's weight but the problem was that he was going to swing through the fire. I closed my eyes and made the flames die down long enough for Mr. Crepsley to swing through and back.

I felt a burning pain consume my back. I turned around and there was a grinning unarmed vampaneze. I growled and stabbed him in the stomach. His smile disappeared as he slid to the ground. I stood there until Darren said "Um, Vix?" I raised an eyebrow. "You need a look at your back. I growled "After we kill all these scum." I managed to slash down another three vampaneze before the pain in my back flared again. I made a disk, hopped on with Misty and went to the back of the hall. I got off and asked misty "What is it?" She said worriedly "You have three really deep gashes going across your back." I growled "Damn." I ripped the bottom of my top off so it ended at my mid-section and took the bandages off of my pretty much healed wrist. I wrapped them around my stomach and back to soak up the blood that was dripping. I walked over to help Debbie. She took one look at me and said "What happened?" I shrugged and said "Just a small scratch." She smiled and said "Okay then." We mowed down about five vampaneze when suddenly everything stopped.

I hopped on a disk with Misty and went over to where Darren was. I looked up. Mr. Crepsley was on the platform.


	37. Chapter 37

Mr. Crepsley had to fight the lord of the vampaneze, Gannen Harst and Steve. The three vampaneze took a V shape. I wiped the tears from eyes, partly because I knew what was going to happen and partly because of the pain in my back. The lord had a short sword, but it was sharp. Gannen had a longer sword and Steve pulled out a chain, covered in barbs and spikes.

The only noise in the cavern was coming from on the platform. The fight seemed to drag on forever, tears flowed down my cheeks. I'm glad Darren was too fixated on what was going on the platform. The fight was interesting but Mr. Crepsley knew what he was doing. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Mr. Crepsley grabbed the lord of the vampaneze and threw him over the side.

I looked at the 'vampaneze lord' He was impaled in many places and his body and clothes caught alight quickly. I didn't smile; I knew the terror that was soon to follow. I looked at Darren, he was beaming. I looked up at Mr. Crepsley, he smiled, a tear sprung to my eye. Suddenly Steve charged at Mr. Crepsley like a maddened animal.

As Mr. Crepsley headed to the pit of stakes, Steve had been over eager to watch him die, as Steve lent over the edge, Mr. Crepsley had grabbed the spiked chain, he gritted his teeth with pain as the spikes sunk in to the soft flesh in his hand.

Mr. Crepsley stretched out his free hand and grabbed Steve. Mr. Crepsley sent them both plummeting down to the stakes, grinning like a madman. Gannen darted out and grabbed Steve's hand. Mr. Crepsley laughed as Steve tried to kick him off.

I could see that Mr. Crepsley didn't fear death, he had an adrenaline rush. Mr. Crepsley was planning on dragging Steve to the grave with him. Gannen was yelling at him to let go, when all else failed Gannen yelled "What about your allies?!" Mr. Crepsley suddenly stopped all attempts at death and looked at us. I growled and mimed the words "Kill him." Mr. Crepsley wasn't sure. Steve said that no matter what Crepsley would die. Debbie ran to Darren and cried out "You can't let him die!" Darren shushed her and soothed her "It's alright," he cooed. He pulled her into a hug. Mr. Crepsley said his goodbyes to Vancha. He then turned to Darren and said "Do not let hatred rule your life. My death does not need to be avenged. Live as a free vampire, not as a twisted revenge-driven creature of despair, like Steve or R.V. My spirit will not rest easy in paradise if you do." Darren nodded, fighting back the tears. Mr. Crepsley then turned to me and said "You are tough, you are honest, and you are the best vampire I have ever met." I smiled. He added "And Vix, try to keep Darren from killing himself." I smiled and stuttered through tears "Mr. Crepsley?" He smiled and said softly "Yes Vix." I smiled and said "I want you to take care of Arra and Gavner...and Alicia." He nodded and said "Bye Vix." Tears were flowing freely now. I made the death's touch sign as he dived into the pit of stakes.

Mr. Crepsley hit the stakes, it was not a pleasant experience, and he shook horribly and screamed before finally dyeing. Debbie cried and Darren couldn't. Vancha and Harkat went stone still. As for me, I fell to the floor in a crumpled mess and a torrent of tears poured down my cheeks. I howled as loud as I could, Misty joined in, then Darren, then Vancha. I heard Steve jump down and sing "Hah hah! Creepy Crepsley's dead!" I stood up and growled "Shut up!" He danced and chirped "Why, what are you going to do?!" I grabbed a knife and walked over to him. His joy abated as he realised that he was in serious danger. My eye turned as red as the blood he drinks. Steve snarled "Ok." He pulled his own knife out. I put my knife away and waited for him to come closer. I was so angry at this moment, I was neither human, nor animal, I was something worse.

Suddenly he lifted up into the air. Gannen gasped and said "What's happening." Darren looked at me, then back at Steve. He stuttered "S...s...she's controlling...his blood." Steve croaked, as if he was being choked "Fire, the darts." I dropped Steve at the sound of pinging noises all over the cavern.

The darts stopped about a metre away from me, hovering harmlessly in midair. Steve said "How?" I smiled wickedly and hissed "Never make darts out of rock." Suddenly all the darts that were facing me, faced Steve. A lone tear ran down my cheek as I said "A life for a life." I felt arms around my shoulders. I turned around and saw Debbie, she had tears in her eyes, more ran down her cheek when she saw my face, I saw how frightening I must look. Suddenly all of the darts fell from the air. My head swam as I fell over, passing out. I felt someone catch me as I almost hit the ground. I looked up and saw Darren. I whispered softly "Sorry." before I welcomed the calming feel of unconsciousness.

When I awoke I saw Vancha looking at me suspiciously. I sat up but fell over again as I felt pain fire to life in my back. I sat up slowly and walked over to Vancha, who was looking into the pit mournfully. He looked at me and smiled "How did you do that earlier?" I furrowed my eyebrows and said "What?" He stood up and said "Do you remember anything that happened." I shook my head and thought before saying "I remember everything before and walking up to Steve, then putting my knife away, that's it." He frowned and said "You almost killed him." I muttered "How?" Vancha's frown grew as he said "You controlled his blood." I fell over, feeling light headed and started crying. Vancha sat down and said "We have all lost Larten, it's okay." I looked at him and said "It's not about Larten's death, I saw that coming, I knew how and when it would happen, it's from the fact that I gave in so much to rage and anger, but it's also that I like that, I hated it, I felt like a monster, but at the same time I felt like it gave me power." He smiled but said nothing. We waited in silence for an hour before I heard rustling. I turned around and saw Darren sitting up and rubbing the side of his head.

He walked over, he paced and growled. I put my hands on his shoulders and said "It's okay." He yelled "No, it's not!" I felt myself grow angry again as he yelled "You have no idea how difficult it is for me right now!" I shoved him and yelled back "Yes I do, what you learnt three hours ago, I have known since I came to the cirque!" He frowned and said "You knew?" I nodded. He screamed "Why didn't you tell us!" I yelled back "Do you want all the humans, vampaneze and vampires to die!" He shook his head and said glumly "No," I looked at him and said "That's why." Vancha walked over to us and asked "What are you two talking about?" Darren and I shared an uneasy glance and said together "Steve is the vampaneze lord."

Vancha collapsed onto the ground and muttered a few dark curses. His eyes travelled to my book. He stood up and said "What's this." He touched the wound. I flinched and gritted my teeth. I smiled and said "Like I said before, just a scratch." He laughed and said "You are a true vampire." I smiled sadly and said "That's what Mr. Crepsley said from when I met him." Vancha smiled and said "Well, he was darn right about that!"

The journey up the tunnels was slow and exasperating. We met a figure half way through the tunnel. It was Evanna, she led us up and out of the tunnels to a forest where she had a meal planned, the others tucked in but I only ate a small slab of meat. Evanna passed more to me but I pushed it away, she understood what I was going through and said no more. Evanna suggested that Vancha go to Vampire Mountain to warn the others. Vancha asked "Should I tell the princes about Larten." Evanna looked at me and said "I think Vix would like to tell them." I nodded and smiled. I focused as I located all the vampires I had ever met and especially the princes. I sent a message "Larten Crepsley is dead; he died honestly, fighting the lord of the vampaneze. He is in paradise." I focused on any responses, most of them were curses or sorry and the most common was "Even in death, may he be triumphant." I opened my eyes and saw Vancha smiling. I asked "What?" He smiled brighter and said "I heard your message." I nodded and said "Any vampire I have ever met has."

Darren decided he had enough of vampaneze and vampires. Darren said he was going to the cirque. Harkat agreed and so did I. Evanna said that Debbie and Alice could go back to their own lives, get things in perspective and then they can choose what to do. Vancha flitted away for Vampire Mountain that night and Debbie and Alice got ready to leave. Evanna handed them a folded piece of paper. She said that when they decided upon their course of action then they should open the paper and it should help them. Alice and Debbie left. Darren turned to Evanna as Evanna said to him "Take care of her; she is emotionally and physically drained." He nodded and Evanna turned to me "Make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid." I nodded and said glumly "Bye Evanna."

We travelled for a week after I located Evra, it had to be Evra, I didn't recognise Mr. Tall's mental pattern. We got to the cirque and the first person we saw was Alexander Ribs in a tyre, he slept there so he could be more flexible. I saw a small boy creep towards Alexander, with a cockroach in his hand, it didn't take a genius to work out what he was going to do, which was to drop it into Alexander's mouth.

We had been at the cirque for a few weeks, today was one of the first times I had come out of my tent, apart from meals, which I grabbed and ate in my tent.

As he neared Alexander his mother popped her head out of her tent, she yelled "Urcha!" He spun round with terror on his face. She detached her ear from the side of her head and threw it at the young boy; it hit the cockroach out of his hand. He whimpered and ran to his brother and sister. When she caught Urcha he whined that his brother made him do it. She started to rant at her three children when she caught sight of us. She welcomed us back to the cirque. Darren smiled but all I could manage was a nod of my head. She asked us to keep an eye on the three kids while Evra's snake was moulting. We nodded and looked at the three kids. They didn't know what to think about me and Darren because since we had come back to the cirque we had been glum and withdrawn. I took a sip from my beer bottle and stroked Misty behind the ear. I downed the rest of the bottle, this beer wasn't strong so I basically was never drunk until the third bottle. Darren asked what they would like to do. Lilia squealed "Wolfy!" I smiled and called over Misty. I helped her get on and Misty ran around making sure that Lilia was on the whole time. I lifted her off. She liked me a lot more that Darren for some reason. Darren played and smiled and laughed with the kids, but I could see his eyes, they were empty.

They got bored and started throwing things that they had found on the floor at Darren. I watched, giggling, maybe it wouldn't be so bad out of the tent. When the Von kids got bored I guided them to the campfire and left Darren, cold, dirty and alone.

Another week went by and Darren mourned more and more. He didn't answer to his name and Harkat got angrier and angrier at him. I tried talking to Harkat but he just ranted on how we were all upset but nobody reacted like Darren. The camp was happy that I was back to my old self. In the week I controlled any anger I felt and in turn I felt better and better.

When we were there Truska was gone which was a downside because I needed to speak to her. She had been gone for a few months and when she came back there was big party, needless to say, Darren was sulking on the outside of the camp. I was even getting slightly annoyed. As we were celebrating I said to Truska "We need to speak with Darren." She nodded. We went and found Darren behind a tent on his own curled into sorry ball of shame. I stayed hidden as Truska spoke to Darren. I didn't catch anything apart from when she hit him in the face with a slice of cake. Darren yelled at Truska. Truska sat next to him. I caught part of what she said. She said that she lost her family to an 'evil fisherman' so she joined the cirque.

Truska took Darren into her tent to help him relax. He had a bath filled with scented oil and actually stayed in for about an hour. He got kitted out in his old clothes. He was taken to a mirror where he looked deep inside his eyes. The living could be dead; he was dying on the inside.

He wailed and cried into Truska and I before finally going to sleep on the floor. We made him comfy and left.

A few months had passed and Darren was still crying but less and less. He was coming to terms with the death. He talked to people and was comforted by them. Darren and Harkat moved into my tent so that Darren had someone to talk to and Harkat sometimes needed two people to hold him down during his nightmares. One day Harkat had an especially long nightmare. After helping him recover we went to report for duty. I preformed every other week and did odd jobs around the cirque all the time. We got to Mr. Tall's caravan to get our list of chores and jobs. He smiled his coal black smile and said "I let you sleep, you have visitors." We walked in and ran over to the two figures on the couch. I hugged the two women and said "Debbie! Alice! What are you doing here?" We bombarded them with about a million questions a second. They explained to us that Debbie had quit her teaching job and Alice was thinking about quitting. When we escaped from the prison it had been big and people now just don't worry because we were gone. They had planned to travel to Vampire Mountain, put a plan forward to make a human army of vampires, called vampirites. They then hit a problem; they didn't know where Vampire Mountain was. They opened the piece of paper and it told them exactly where the cirque would be.

They asked if we would take them. I nodded and said straight away "I can't wait to go back and see Seba and Vanez." Darren wasn't so sure and defiantly wasn't that keen on going back. Obviously Harkat was going to stay with Darren no matter what he decided to do. Debbie said that they weren't so sure of what the princes would think of two human women trying to help them by recruiting humans. Harkat said "But it's worth a try, I'll come with you." The room went cold and a chilling voice hissed "Oh no you won't." I whirled around, it was Desmond Tiny.


	38. Chapter 38

I gulped and asked "May I be excused." Mr. Tiny nodded and said "You may." I quickly said "Thanks." I rushed out the tent and walked to where the cirque keeps the drinks. I asked "One beer please." The man handed me the bottle and asked "You seem in a hurry, and you look like you've seen a ghost." He laughed. I nodded and said "Sort of, it's Mr. Tiny."Now the man adopted the same expression I was wearing. I walked back to my tent and slowly took sips of my beer. Darren walked into my tent about half an hour later. He said "Harkat-" I cut him off and said "I know, Harkat needs to find out who he used to be, and we need to take Alice and Debbie to Vampire Mountain." He nodded and said "Exactly." I finished my beer and got packing. I forgot that all my stuff was gone. As I crumpled into my chair Alice walked in with a large duffel bag. My eyebrows knitted together as I said "Is that what I think it is?" She nodded with a smile and said "Yeah, I thought you might like some of your stuff back." I smiled brightly and said "Alice? This isn't _some _of my stuff; this is _all _of my stuff!" She smiled and said "Even better." before leaving the tent.

I ran to the medical trailer and asked for a lot of bandages, because of the gashes running through my back. This time I wasn't going to wear my shoes. Debbie protested "But you're human, you can't do that!" I smiled and said "Yes I'm human, but I'm not wearing shoes." She protested again "But it'll be freezing!" I smiled and said "That's one of the perks of being me! I don't feel the cold." She smiled and said "Is that why at Mahler's you were sweating even though it was mild." I nodded and laughed.

We left just before midday. Debbie and Alice had at least two massive bags each that were packed with almost everything they might need. Darren took a strong knife, a change of clothes and his diary that he always wrote everything in. We walked for an hour before Darren stopped completely. Debbie turned to him and asked "What's wrong?" I smiled and took his bag from him. He looked at me; I rolled my eyes and said "Well? Are you going to go and help Harkat or what?" He smiled and nodded. Debbie was scared she'd never see him again, or that it was going to be dangerous and all that. I grabbed her shoulders, looked her in the eyes and said "He'll be back, that's all I can say." She nodded and calmed down. She put a map on the floor and Darren inked out the easiest route to take. He said to her "If there's a blockage I'm sure that Vix can lead you in the right direction." I nodded and joked "Oh please, I can smell those stinky vampires from a mile away." He smiled and laughed, gave Debbie a small goodbye kiss and ran quickly back to camp.

After he left our sight I turned to the two ladies and said "Shall we get going." Debbie nodded and sobbed. She complained for about half an hour that Darren was gone before Alice gave up and snapped "Seriously! Shut it!" I smiled at Alice and said "Thank you." Debbie asked me as we were walking "How do you know he's going to come back, do you know what's happening with us?" I smiled and said "I know everything, every detail of what's going to happen to Darren, as for us I know we'll make it to the Mountain, I'm not sure otherwise." She nodded and fired questions about vampires. I answered all of them with ease.

We got to the Mountain in about a month. I had also made a bow and arrows on the way to the mountain. Debbie and Alice were wiped out when we got to the Mountain. We walked around the Mountain for ten minutes until we found a tunnel that wasn't blocked off. I sniffed our way through the tunnels or looked at the small markers on the walls. We finally got to the two giant wooden doors. The guard said "You must address yourself to the gate." I said "Victoria Hale." The guard almost dropped his weapon. He said "Vix, it's me." I looked into his eyes and gasped. I smiled brightly and exclaimed "DAMEON!" He smiled as I pulled him into a hug. Alice tapped me on the shoulder and asked "Who is that?" I smiled and said "Vampaneze attacked the mountain years ago, I actually helped Dameon get away unharmed." The other guard growled and said "Why?" I smiled sweetly and said "Because the vampaneze came here by choice to make piece." Dameon smiled and said "We'll catch up later." I nodded and gestured for Alice and Debbie to go forward. Alice went first and said "Alice Burgess. Human." The other guard who I didn't know said "Hah! You think we are going to let a human woman in?" I stepped forward and hissed "Why? You got something against human women?" He gulped and stuttered "No Vix." He composed himself and said "Who's that?" I looked over at Debbie as she said "Debbie Hemlock." He nodded and tapped the door with his spear. A few moments passed before the door swung open. I smiled and walked into the mountain. It was good to be back. I walked straight to the hall of Kheldon Lurt so that we could get something to eat. I bought Debbie and Alice some bat broth and some bread and got Misty and I some meat. Alice and Debbie ate their meal. As soon as they finished Debbie asked "What was that?" I smiled and said "Bat broth and bread." Alice shrugged and cleaned the bowl with the last of her bread whereas Debbie gagged. I laughed and said "You like it before you knew what it was." She nodded and said "I guess." We were chatting when a vampire dressed in red. For a moment I thought about Mr. Crepsley but when I turned around it was Seba. I smiled and roared "SEBA!" I gave him a massive hug. He seemed startled but hugged me back. I introduced Seba to Debbie and Alice. He shook their hands before asking "Do you have a room to stay in." They shook their heads. I asked "Is my old room vacant." He nodded and said "Do you wish to stay there." I nodded and said "Yes please, Debbie and Alice can share it as well. And could you please string up some hammocks." He nodded and left. We stayed talking for a few minutes when we saw Vancha. I smiled and said "Hi." He smiled back and sat down "Ladies." he said. Alice asked "Why are you not surprised we're here?" He looked at Alice, then me, then Alice again. "Because Vix messaged me when you were almost at the mountain, which gave me just enough time to get you a meeting with the princes." She nodded and said "So when is it?" He said "You will have two nights to rest, then two nights days to explore and then your meeting the next night." I said "Thank you Vancha, I'm going to take these two to rest." I walked out of the hall and got to my room. I opened the door and sighed. It looked the same as it did before. I showed the girls to their hammocks and said "Put your stuff under your hammock, are you guys cold?" They nodded and crawled under their covers. I shoved my duffel bag under my hammock and laid a blanket down for Misty. Misty went right to sleep. I ran out of the room to the store cupboards. No one was there so I just picked up a few more blankets and ran back to our room. I laid the blankets on top of Alice and on top of Debbie before crawling into my own hammock.

I woke up the next night and felt fine so I went to the halls of game. Misty heard me leave and came with me. Debbie and Alice were still asleep so I let them be. I walked to the halls of game. I saw the bars and thought of Arra. I hopped on and waited for an opponent. Soon a vampire jumped on with a staff. I smiled and said "Hi Dameon." I stood up and took the first swipe. He dodged it easily. We tried to find each other's weak points. His was the wound he sustained that I healed when I first met him and mine was my back. I tried to face him all the time so that he couldn't get to my back. He crouched low so I couldn't get to his stomach but this means that I could get to his head. As we were circling each other on the bars I saw Debbie and Alice walk over. I looked at them; Dameon took the opportunity to take a swipe at my feet. I jumped over the staff and onto another bar. I was now behind him. I made a broad-arched swing over his head. It wacked his ear, his hand shot up to cradle the bloody ear leaving him momentarily defenceless. I stabbed at his stomach and then swiped at his feet. He dropped his staff from the blow to the stomach and then got floored with the second hit. I jumped down and held out my hand. He smiled and grabbed my hand; I pulled him up and said "Good game." He smiled back and said "Yeah, but not good enough." Debbie and Alice rushed over and said "Congrats." I smiled and said "That was nothing." I asked Debbie "Do you want to train a little?" She thought and said "I'm not sure? Would it be a good idea to?" I nodded and said "Only for a few hours though." I looked around the hall and saw Vanez Blane, the blind games master. We walked up behind him. He didn't even look around and said "Hi Vix and...Who else?" it didn't surprise me that he knew it was us, vampires have extremely good senses of smell and hearing. "Two human women, Alice Burgess," she shook his hand "And Debbie Hemlock." Debbie shook his hand.

He smiled and said "So what do you want?" I replied "We need to train them." Vanez said "I can train them some of the time but you're going to have to do most of it." I turned to the women and said "Looks like I'm your trainer." Debbie and Alice smiled. We walked to the training rooms. When we got there Alice asked "So how good are you with that?" she gestured to my bow. I quickly grabbed an arrow and my bow and fired. It hit the bulls eye across the room, at least ten metres away. She smiled in awe and said "I guess very." I smiled and asked "What weapons would you rather use?" Debbie answered "Sword and bow and arrow." Alice thought and said "Knives and crossbow." I said to Debbie "I can help with bow and arrow but only partially with sword." I then turned to Alice and said "I can help with knives and crossbow." We got to training.

After training I took Debbie and Alice back to our room. I said to them before leaving "Get some sleep; you can take my blankets if you need them." Debbie smiled and said "Thanks." I left the room to go and get a meal. I got a slab of meat. As I was eating Dameon sat down with his own slice of meat. I waved and said "Lo," He smiled and said "Hello, you said we had to have chance to catch up." I nodded and said "Speaking of which, last time I saw you, you were a vampaneze." He smiled and said "I had only been a vampaneze for about a month. When you helped me I realised that vampires weren't as bad as my master said they were. When you let me go I wandered around and got found by another vampire, you don't know him. He knew what I was and agreed to re-blood me as a vampire. I came back, passed my trials, became a guard and here I am. I am still having trouble with my drinking but I'm not killing any more. The princes said you were hunting the vampaneze lord-" At that moment the mug I was holding smashed between my fingers. He saw I didn't want to talk about so he said "Enough about that, tell me about you." I smiled and said "For starters I'm not even half-vampire, I'm half wolf and half human." He furrowed his eyebrows and smiled, he said "No way!" I smiled and said "Way," I took my hair band off and un-furled my tail. He gasped and said "Can I feel it?" I nodded my head. He stroked my tail and said "Anything else?" I nodded and said "A lot like I can control the elements." He smiled as a flame lit on the end of my finger. I heard Misty bark; I whirled around and winced as the pain in my back flared to life. He looked at the discomfort in my face and asked "What is it?" I showed him the bandages and said "A vampaneze did this." He growled. He then said "Why don't you heal it?" I smiled and shook my head saying "It's very difficult and healing only heals it a tiny bit, it mostly takes away any pain but if this is something where it could be very bad if you don't feel the pain, like I could catch it on something and not feel it ripping my skin off." He smiled and said "Ok." I carried on what I was saying before "I can also, to an extent, tell the future." He furrowed his eyebrows and frowned so I explained "Like, the three hunters, now two, I know the outcomes," He growled "Why don't you say anything?!" I smiled and put my hand on his shoulder "Because Destiny forbids me, it would mean the end of the humans, vampaneze and vampires if I interfere." He calmed down and said "In some way that makes sense." I laughed and winced as my back hurt. He frowned and said "Maybe I can help?" I raised an eyebrow. He said "Vampire, healing spit?" I smiled and said "Oh yeah." I removed my jumper, revealing the crop top I have worn since receiving the wound (Because longer shirts were very irritating) and un-wrapped the bandages. I pulled my plaited hair out of the way and said "Be careful, it's really sore." He laughed and spat onto his hand. He rubbed the spit into the wound; I gritted my teeth to start with but realised it was really helping. When he was done I looked at my back and saw three long claw-like scares running through my back "Great! Another massive scar!" He laughed and said "What others do you have?" I showed him the burns on my leg and then the tattoos on my arm. He asked "When did you get those?" He said pointing to the scars on my arms "When I was thirteen." I answered. "How?" he asked. "Desmond Tiny." I replied.

We chatted and laughed before it was time for his shift to begin again. I waved goodbye and sat down again. I heard giggling, and then Debbie ran over and sat down next to me. She was smiling like a goon. She giggled and said "So?" I raised an eyebrow "So what?" She giggled again and said "He likes you!" I frowned and said "No, we're friends; I saved him from death, that's it!" She laughed and said "Oh, please, I know the way he looks at you, it's the way Darren looks at me!" I laughed and said "We only chatted for like an hour." She laughed and said "Try seven!" I frowned. "Look around." She said. I realised that the hall was empty apart from one other vampire sitting in the corner. "Oh." I said "Oh well, so what! That doesn't mean he likes me!" She laughed and said "Sure Vix." I yawned and realised how tired I was. I walked back to the room and saw that Alice wasn't there either. I asked Debbie "Where's Alice?" She answered "Alice has gone to train with Vanez." I smiled and said "He may be blind but he's beat me in almost every fight!" She laughed and left the room. I led down in my hammock and thought about what Debbie had said about Dameon.


	39. Chapter 39

The next few days passed. I trained for half the day, and then went to sleep. At night I would train Debbie and Alice, and then meet up with Dameon. I now know that Dameon was about thirty-five. Then I would do whatever I wanted for a few hours, normally that would be sparing on the bars.

The time came for Debbie and Alice to go forward with their plan for the princes. We waited outside the hall of princes before the women were called in. Two guards checked us them weapons, when they found none they were allowed to enter. Alice stood strong as usual but Debbie was shaking with nervousness. I laughed and said "The princes are fine, apart from Mika; he is even more sour that Mr. Crepsley was!" She smiled shakily. I slapped her on the shoulder and said "I probably shouldn't be saying this, but you will be fine." That seemed to help. This was a private meeting so it would just be Alice, Debbie and the princes. I waited outside for at least an hour before a happy looking Debbie waltzed out. I smiled and said "Did it go well?!" She smiled even brighter and explained as we were walking to the hall of Kheldon Lurt "They said we can make an army of humans to fight the vampets," We sat down in the hall when she carried on "But we have to recruit them ourselves and we need honest people." She thought for a moment before saying "We need some people that aren't afraid of dying even though promised or given nothing, because the vampets are being promised power and long lives." I nodded and said "I agree," this was a major downside. I saw someone sit down across the table. I said glumly "Oh, hi Dameon." He looked at me and said "What's gotcha down?" I smiled and said "The vampires are recruiting humans to fight the vampets so we can focus on the vampaneze, we've been approved by the princes but we need honest people." He thought and smiled "I think I can help." I sat up straight and raised an eyebrow. "How?" I asked. He smiled and said "Well, I used to be a vampaneze and the vampaneze fed mostly on the homeless. The homeless are affected but they can't exactly fight back by themselves." I smiled and said "That's right! They're preyed on but they can't fight back, they don't need to be promised anything and they are good people." Debbie smiled and exclaimed "We can call them... _Vampirites_!" I smiled and said "Perfect!" We smiled and got to planning. Later on in the night when we had planned everything Debbie was exited and said "Great! We can go! I can go find Darren!" I smiled and pulled her back into her seat. I said sadly "Debbie, he's not back yet and you need to train, no offence but you won't be able to help unless you can fight properly." She looked at the floor and said "I guess." I smiled and said "You will see him again." The next day and night Debbie and Alice slept because they were tired. I slipped out at night to practice my shooting on a dummy.

I trained for about half an hour when I saw Dameon walk in. I fired the arrow that was in my bow (It hit a bull's eye if you wanted to know) and said "Hey Dameon." He smiled and said "You have a good aim." I smiled and said "Thanks." He asked me "Do you know how to fight with swords?" I furrowed my eyebrows and said "I know the basics so if it was the only weapon I had, I would know how to use it but honestly I prefer my knives." He said "I can teach you if you want?" I nodded and said "Should be fun." He took two swords off of the wall. He handed one to me and said "Show me what you know." I nodded and nipped him arm, then his stomach. He then took a nip at my hand, making me drop my sword, he grabbed my arm, pulled it behind my back and forced me to my knees, he held the sword to my throat and said "That's how you fight with a sword." I smiled and said "No, this is." I threw down my arm and forced him tumbling over the top of me, I grabbed my sword and his arm and held him in the same position he held me in. He smiled and laughed "Mercy." I laughed and let him go. "I thought you only knew the basics?" I smiled and said "Only learned the basics, the rest was complete instinct, like when I shot my first arrow I got a bull's eye." He smiled and said "You are good." I smiled and said "Thanks, um, I better be going, I promised James that I would spar with him on the bars." When I got to the door I felt a hand on my arm. I turned around and said "Yeah?" He blushed and said "Um, Vix, Um." I smiled and said "Yeah." I grabbed his hand and pressed my lips against his. I kissed him and pulled away. I waved and said "Bye," And slipped out the door. He smiled and was a bright shade of pink. He looked dumbstruck as I left. I went to my practice on the bars with a vampire called James. I beat him easily and went to get a meal.

I sat down with some bat broth and some bread. Debbie sat down and smiled saying "So you went to go and practice with Dameon?" I nodded. "How did it go?" I blushed and said quietly "Fine...we just...um...kissed..." She gasped and smiled brightly "WHAT!" She yelled. "Shhhh." I said. "How did it happen?!" I smiled and blushed. "We were training, he beat me, I beat him, and then when I went to leave we kissed." She smiled and said "So, your first kiss was after you held a sword to his neck?" I shook my head and said "That wasn't my first kiss." She asked "Really? Who was it then?" I smiled and said "Evra, the snake boy, right before we got captured by a mad vampaneze." She whistled and said "Wow, interesting." I smiled and said "Dameon is really nice, but the hunt comes first." She smiled and said "You are a strong woman." I nodded my thanks and we went to go and train with bow and arrow. When we got there I surprised Debbie because I had made her, her own bow and arrow. She was delighted when I handed it to her. She had a good aim but a sloppy stance. I said to her "Stand side on, feet apart, shoulder width, hold out your arm straight, and pull back to your cheek, aim, and fire." We trained for three hours before crawling back to bed.

The nights flew by. Within about a year and a half we were ready to leave the mountain. Debbie looked a lot fitter and had her hair cut short. Alice looked even more ferocious than when she came to the mountain. I think that both girls were happy to leave; it had been exhausting for them and very cold. It was very awkward when the time came for me to tell Dameon that I was leaving. We were having our meal like we normally did most nights when I told him. "Dameon?" I asked. "Yeah?" He answered through a mouth full of food. "Me, Debbie and Alice, we need to...um..." He put down his food and said sadly "Leave." I nodded and said "It's time; we need to recruit some more humans." He put his hand on my arm and said "Could I come with you?" I shook my head and said "The rules say that no other vampires can be called on to help with the mission." He smiled glumly and said "You just need to promise me that you'll be back." I smiled and said "I will. This is for you." I pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to him. He took it out of my hand and smiled when he saw what it was. It was a drawing of Dameon and I. He studied the picture before saying "When do you have to go?" he was choking back tears. I frowned and said "One hour." He looked me in the eyes and said "Luck Victoria Hale." It didn't even bother me that he used my full name. "Luck Dameon Tate." A tear rolled down my cheek as I leant over the table and drew him into a hug. I kissed his cheek before running out of the room to get my stuff. I didn't say bye to many people: Seba, Vanez, and a few other vampires. We grabbed all of our stuff and left the mountain.

We travelled and travelled for maybe a month before we tried recruiting.

It was weird, how destiny works, it's mean and cruel but sometimes it can work in your favour. We first went to a town I knew had a lot of homeless people in. It was a few towns over from Mr. Crepsley's home town. We set up camp in an alley, when we finished I went to go and buy something to eat. When I walked back to the makeshift camp there were now four people sitting down. I walked over suspiciously. Debbie said "Vix, this is Declan and this is little Kenny." I smiled and said "I know, I met them before." Alice's eyebrows knitted together as she asked "Really? When?" I sat down and said "Before I got to where Debbie met Darren for the first time." Alice said quietly "Cool." Declan said once he finished eating "We still have £30 left of the money you gave us." I smiled and said "So, you didn't spend it all in one place." Little Kenny laughed. After that we explained to them what we were doing. When we finished explaining Declan said "Well, we wouldn't believe you otherwise but Vix showed us what she could do years ago and she looks only a few years older than when we met her. Plus when she left us all those years ago she told us that we would meet you two and that we should join you." Alice and Debbie looked impressed. I asked Declan and Little Kenny "Are there any more homeless people in this city?" they shook their heads and said "No, but we know where there are." I smiled and said "We leave at sunset." They nodded and said "It's a few months journey at least." I nodded and said "I have time." We slept through the day and got ready to leave at night. These nights were very warm so I didn't bother with jumpers, just wore a crop top and some shorts along with some sandals.

We travelled every night and half the day until we got to a city which I recognised straight away, it was where I used to live with my human family. I was quieter than usual so Debbie asked "What's the matter?" I showed no emotion and said "This is the town I was born in." She smiled sympathetically and said no more about the sensitive matter. We passed an old abandoned church. We decided to stay there. About a month went by; Declan and Little Kenny knew exactly where all the hideouts were. We recruited over fifty homeless people! Only two objected because they were close to death. We stayed in the church because it had lots of secret rooms and passages to hide in when any police came by. One day when I was out I saw that there was going to be a big football match. I asked how much the tickets were and bought one because they were almost sold out. I ran back to the church and asked Debbie "Could I please go to this?!" She smiled and asked "I'm guessing you like football?" I nodded vigorously and said "I love it!" She smiled and said "You have spent two years training and helping us, yes you can go to a football game." I squealed and threw my arms around Debbie "Thank you!" I yelled. I was so happy I decided to go for a jog around town. It was dark and a very warm night.

I jogged around town. When I had been jogging for an hour I went passed an alley way where a saw a small figure. I ran up to the hooded figure and asked "Harkat?" The little person looked up and when he saw me his face grew into a wide smirk. "Vix?" He asked. "Yup!" I answered. As he stuttered I remembered something. If the cirque was here and so was Debbie and there was a football game...death and despair was on its way.

I quickly shushed Harkat and said "You can't tell Darren we're here, I know it goes against who you are, and I know that in your past life you were Kurda Smahlt. So, if you tell Darren everything will be ruined, you have to do me this one favour." He thought for a moment before saying "It does go against me but I understand...your concern. I will not tell Darren." I let out a breath and hugged the little person "Thanks." I said before running off. I went back to the church to mull over what would be coming.

A few days dragged on before it was time for the football match. I took a few throwing knives and some knives to fight with as well. I walked to the match; unfortunately I was a little late so I had a massive line to wait in. I still wore my crop top and shorts but I wore a jacket a little longer that the top to hide the tattoos that swirled around my arms.

I waited in line for an hour before being let in. I found a seat that wasn't occupied and sat down. I scanned the crowed for any sign of Darren. I found him; he was a few rows behind the dugouts in the middle of the stadium. The light showed his face easily whereas I was in a seat where it was poorly lit.

The game was great and I couldn't resist cheering out when the goalie stopped a goal or the other team failed to stop a goal. I sang along with the crowds but kept an eye on Darren the entire time. Half time came; our team trudged off the field looking as if the world was on their shoulders. After the break our team walked on looking happier and more confident than when they left the pitch. I watched Darren as our team scored a goal. He hugged the people close to him even though he didn't know them. I laughed, I so wished there was a camera that could record him, I wonder what Vancha would say! Our team was winning, with six minutes to go! I was so excited I forgot about what was sure to come. Back to the game, an attacker laced the ball at the goal towards the left corner. The goalie jumped and just managed to avert the ball. The crowed exploded; even I couldn't resist cheering and hollering. The game ended and I remembered what was going to happen. I edged down towards the pitch so I could get a good view. The goalie and one of his friends walked off of the pitch discussing the good game. I saw Darren trying to call to the goalie, whose name was Tommy. Tommy was one of Darren's old best friends. Tommy was almost at the tunnels leading to the locker rooms when angry yelling and screams broke out. There were a few sharp bangs. I could tell that most of the stadium was clueless. But Darren and I knew the sounds all too well, it was gunfire. Darren screamed out Tommy's name. Tommy and the other player were just as confused as the rest of the crowd. Darren started towards Tommy when a steward stumbled out, blood spouting from his face. The stadium watched in horror for a few completely silent seconds, the only noise was the agonized screaming of the dyeing steward. The stadium erupted into roars of terror. The crowed all rushed towards the exits at once, pulling me with them. I grabbed a chair and hoped that I wouldn't be seen by Darren. Suddenly two silhouettes rushed out of the tunnel. One had a scared face, half blown up. The other had a big beard flecked with dirt, blood and flesh. I immediately recognised them and groaned. It was R.V and Morgan James. Darren's colour drained as he tried even harder to get to the pitch. While Darren was still fighting the crowed R.V darted towards his target. Tommy Jones.

Tommy did nothing; he just stood there, a look of terror frozen on his face. Fear entered his kind eyes. R.V came upon Tommy, pulled back his silver, hooked hand and drove it deep into the chest of an innocent man. Darren completely stopped; he was feeling the agonizing pain of losing a dear friend. R.V pulled his hand out of the flesh and laughed maniacally. I growled and pushed to the front of the crowed. R.V and Morgan vanished down the tunnel. A tear slid down my cheek as Tommy led on the floor. Dead.

Darren was about to run to Tommy but then he remembered his priorities. The crowed had frozen when they saw Tommy die. Darren shot down the tunnel, me following close behind. I passed Tommy and made the deaths touch sign. Further down the tunnel there were two bodies bleeding. One was dead, the other was coughing, and I could save him. I grabbed a bottle of water, unscrewed the lid and made it receive its healing properties. It healed the man but he passed out from shock. I made sure he was breathing before running off. I kept running until there was a split. I smelt nothing down the left corridor, but I smelt the foul stench of blood to the right. The corridor was small but long. I ran past two dead police officers...when I find R.V and Morgan, they die. The police had their weapons taken, luckily by Darren. As I left the tunnels there were houses. It was dark but my wolf senses let me adjust quickly. There was another junction. I stood completely still and smelt each way, nothing to the right, but to the left I smelt vampaneze. I grabbed my knives and walked cautiously. There was a road leading to a dark alley. The lights had been smashed. This didn't look good. I snuck towards the alley but hid behind the wall, listening. I heard five voices, easy to identify: the first was Darren, then R.V, then Morgan, then...Gannen, and finally the one who made my skin crawl...Steve. I then heard Steve said "Out you come Darius." I peeked from behind my hiding place. He was a young boy, maybe twelve. He had an arrow gun and it was pointing directly at Darren. He looked serious but he was shaking. He wore clothes like Steve, green robes with a brown belt. Darren raised his hand lightly, he was aiming at Steve. Darius asked "Should I shoot him now dad?" Darren's eyes bulged. Vampires and Vampaneze were barren, they couldn't have children. Steve replied smugly "Yes, son." Darren's hand started shaking. I couldn't tell whether from fear or confusion. Darius hastily drew his arrow gun, aimed and shot an arrow.

It hit Darren in his right shoulder. He roared out in agonised pain and got knocked back, I couldn't hold back any more. I jumped out from the shadows and steadied Darren so he didn't hit the floor. Steve looked in confusion, he wasn't expecting that! He said to Darius "Careful with her, she's slippery and powerful." Darius gulped and said "Should I shoot h-"I turned and growled "Don't even try." Suddenly his arrow gun burst into flames.

I looked back down at Darren. His eyes showed complete confusion like he didn't know what to make of anything. I looked at Steve, he was smirking. I looked at Darius, he looked sick. The others looked like they wanted to kill, it didn't matter who. I laid Darren on the floor so he could compose himself. He sat up, grabbed a baton and held it defensibly. He gritted his teeth in pain and looked around him. The vampaneze were fanning out, going in for the kill. Darius was behind Steve. I grabbed my knives again and held them in front of me. Darren snapped the end off of the arrow. Holding his weapons he waved them around, trying to put them off. Steve smirked as Darren stood up and said smugly "How did Tommy die-with dignity, or like that squealing pig Crepsley?" Something broke inside of Darren. He hurled the baton at Steve. It hit him in the forehead. He fell to the floor in a heap, leaving Darius out in the open. I closed in on Darius but Steve stood up and threw a knife at me. I caught it by the handle and smiled. Steve grunted and said "I see you've practised." I nodded and said "So I could drive a knife through your shrivelled heart," A tear formed in the corner of my eye as I growled "How could you kill Mr. Crepsley?!" Steve laughed and said "He said I had evil blood." I laughed and said "He was right." I threw the knife at Steve, he ducked and pushed Darius out of the way, the knife embedded itself in the wall.

Before I had gone into the stadium I had left Misty outside. I did my special whistle and waited a few moments before Misty appeared at my side. R.V looked terrified as Misty howled.

I turned around and saw Morgan on the floor. Darren was stumbling away. I ran after him and said to Misty "Help him." She nodded and kept Darren on his feet. Darren was only managing a slow jog because of his wound. As we were walking I felt a pain in my side. I knife had skimmed my waist. I screamed out because it was more of a shock than pain. Blood was dripping but it was nowhere near as bad as Darren's wound. Suddenly a door swung open. A middle aged man walked out and said "What's the entire ruckus about." Darren, on instinct, yelled "Murder!" The man stepped out even further, with a confused look plastered on his face. Steve had and his gang had stopped completely. I had to stop myself from smiling. I saw where Darren was going with this and shouted "Help! Killers! They shot him!" The man looked at Darren's shoulder then at me clutching my side. Lights in the buildings turned on and people were peering through their windows. The man walked towards Darren when Steve shot an arrow, Gannen had knocked the arrow gun aside before Steve had fired so the arrow stuck itself into the open door. The man ran back inside terrified. Steve growled at Gannen "What gives!" Gannen sneered and hissed "We need to go...so kill them quickly!" Steve raised the arrow gun, and then lowered it. He stamped his foot and said "No, too quick, too easy." Gannen growled but was cut short when doors swung open. He pushed Steve away and they left. I swung Darren's arm around my shoulder and Misty guided his footing. We walked to the end of the block. He couldn't go on any longer and collapsed against the wall. He woke up a few minutes later and carried on stumbling. Sirens and cars roared and screeched. I was sure they were going to the stadium and then here so we needed to get out. It would be easy to find us following Darren's trail of blood. I stopped him and sat him down. I gripped the head of the arrow that was lodged in his shoulder and said "Hold your breath." He nodded and yelled "Charna's guts!" He sat shaking miserably from pain. The arrow was still in, one of Steve's stupid designs. He looked at the sky as if it were the only real thing on earth. Once he calmed down he looked at the wound again. The bleeding had slowed down because the arrow head had moved a tiny but so only small amounts of blood trickled through the wound. He stuttered "W...we...n...need...to k...keep m...moving," I nodded and helped him to his feet. He gritted his teeth in pain as we trudged through the shadows. We managed to walk for fifteen minutes. His pace slowed more and more and he relied on Misty and I more and more. We stopped at a dark alley. He passed out against the wall. I waited for a few minutes before some familiar faces walked by. "Declan! Little Kenny! Help!" they hurried over and tried their best to help.


End file.
